Always a pleasure
by flyin'rabbit
Summary: Kurt and Blaine met on a staircase at Dalton Academy the day Kurt went spying. But what if the timing and circumstances of their first meeting had been different? One-shot collection, AU. Newest chapter: Kurt's at Dalton, but hasn't joined the Warblers.
1. Blame it on the alcohol

**A/N**: Hello, and thank you for clicking this story! As said, this should become a one-shot collection of various AU meetings between Kurt and Blaine during the course of the show, at least until it all becomes cheesy and cliché and repetitive. It was inspired by a couple of reviews for another story of mine (_Car trouble_, which is essentially also an AU meeting, but slightly expanded, so I couldn't just continue there). I'm not sure what the chapters will be like (length-wise, and such; and, they probably won't all progress and end the same way, too, it depends on what fits them at the time, I guess), although I do have some ideas (but if you have any, feel free to mention them - just keep in mind that I'd prefer things that fit in one of the episodes (any episode)).  
As for this chapter, it takes place during BIOTA (as you might've guessed already), but, as this is their first meeting, Kurt and Blaine haven't met before - the Warblers and New Directions competed in different Sectionals - , Blaine never gave Kurt the advice to confront Karofsky (and therefore, the kiss and the death threat didn't happen either) and Kurt's still at McKinley. Anyway - hopefully you'll enjoy the story! :)

**Disclaimer**: I don't own _Glee_. If I did, I wouldn't be here right now.

* * *

Blaine sighed for what had to be the millionth time since he'd left Dalton that morning. He was currently sitting in his car on the McKinley High parking lot, wondering for (also) the millionth time why he was even here.

Oh, _right_. Because he was kind of a total attention whore at times (especially during competitions), and the council had threatened to give other people his solos if he didn't do this.

He hated the fact that they had so much power over him.

After getting the news about Regionals, the Warblers had gone into full work mode. They had sent Jeff (who had been granted a few solo lines in return) all the way to Fort Wayne to spy on Aural Intensity, but Blaine got to go to Lima, because that was 'closer to where he lived'. They had made it sound like he would actually visit his parents while in Lima, but that was not going to happen.

He was to spy on New Directions, one of the two Glee clubs the Warblers would be facing during the upcoming competition. Apart from some low quality competition videos, nothing about this group could be found on the internet.

Well, there had been, according to the council – some site, run by a McKinley High student, must have contained all kinds of information about the club. When they'd sat down to do their research, however, it turned out that a couple of days earlier, the site had been shut down.

Now that was unfortunate.

Either way, Blaine was still stuck with his stupid spy mission, and he figured that he might as well get out of the car and walk the short distance towards the entrance of the school. He didn't have many fond memories of his old public school, but for all he knew, this one wouldn't be as bad.

Hesitantly, he climbed out of his car and, after closing it, he kept putting one foot in front of the other to make sure he kept on walking straight ahead, hoping that his legs wouldn't suddenly fail him.

What was he doing? He was _Blaine Anderson_, he wasn't afraid of anything or anyone – at least on the outside. So he'd better walk a little more confidently, stand upright, and not show anyone he was nervous, lest they find out he was a spy and not actually a student here.

At least his clothes wouldn't give him away, as he had put on one of his few casual outfits he had at Dalton. It had taken him some time to find them, but they were there, and that was what counted.

He thanked his lucky stars that it was the middle of a school day, so nobody was standing outside to pick on him, at least. Upon arriving at the front doors, he noticed a poster indicating that this week was apparently Alcohol Awareness week. Blaine frowned; he knew enough about matters like this to realise that this had to mean that this school had some serious issues regarding alcohol. Oh well; he was here now, and he was going to find that Glee club and do some spying if it was the last thing he did.

The hallways, he immediately noticed, were empty. So were the first few classrooms he passed, which was strange. There were a lot of cars in the parking lot, so there had to be a lot of students here – but where were they?

On his quest to find the choir room, he still didn't bump into anyone. The offices of various teachers were empty too – something must be going on, Blaine suspected.

Then, finally, he spotted a student – male, slightly taller than him, and looking quite displeased with his, admittedly rather odd, outfit. He was just exiting a bathroom and heading towards – well, somewhere.

"Hey!" Blaine called out. Normally, he wouldn't do such a thing, but desperate times called for desperate measures, right? "Sorry," he said, as the other boy stood still for a moment, giving Blaine a chance to catch up with him. The boy looked at him suspiciously, so Blaine extended a hand, as a sort of peace offering – to show the boy he didn't mean any harm.

Well, sort of. Not to individuals boys, at any rate.

"Hi, I'm Blaine," he greeted the other boy cheerfully. "I'm new here. What's going on?"

After staring at Blaine's hand with a somewhat indescribable look on his features, the boy shook it. "Kurt," he introduced himself… well, curtly. "And if you want to fit in at this school, which I suspect you do, one piece of advice… don't ever talk to me again, unless it's to insult me." Blaine stared at him oddly before remembering that, _oh yeah_, he had just introduced himself as a new student. Man, he really sucked at this spying thing. Kurt continued speaking. "Also, don't come near me ever again, unless it's to physically harm me. Oh, and there's an assembly going on at the moment. It's Alcohol Awareness week."

"An assembly?" Now, Blaine was definitely curious.

"To make the students more aware of the dangers of alcohol," Kurt told him, and he started to slowly walk away, Blaine following closely.

"And you're skipping, or what?" he asked with a slight grin on his face.

Kurt shook his head. "No, just needed to use the bathroom. I have to go perform in a minute. With my Glee club, that is."

Now, Blaine had trouble biting back a huge, victorious grin. It appeared that he had won the jackpot. He could just sit back and watch, not worrying about getting caught or anything, because the whole school would be watching. "Oh?" he asked with (not really) feigned interest.

"Apparently, the principal thought that would be a good idea, even though all our earlier assembly performances ended in sex riots," Kurt continued, rolling his eyes. "We barely practised, so all the others are now going for some liquid courage."

Blaine's head swam. When he had been sent here, he hadn't expected to have to potentially deal with sex riots or drunken performers. He suspected (or rather, hoped) that nothing like that would happen at Regionals.

"Really?" he eventually managed to squeak out.

"Hmhm," Kurt hummed, coming to a stop outside large doors. "You'll see for yourself in a minute, anyway." He held open one of the doors. "We're here. I think there are some free spots over there – you can just sit there, see?"

"You're not coming?" Blaine asked, suddenly not too sure about sitting among all the strangers. Sure, he didn't know Kurt that well either, but at least he didn't seem too threatening – self-confident and maybe even slightly arrogant, sure, but not threatening.

"I have to go perform, remember?" Kurt replied, sounding a little annoyed. "I have to get backstage. Just – enjoy the show." With that, he was gone, and Blaine barely managed to avoid getting hit by the closing door.

There were other students walking around, trying to find a spot, so Blaine didn't stand out too much. On a small platform on one side of the gym stood what looked like a cop of sorts, talking about the dangers of alcohol. When he was done, a small Indian man stepped forward, thanking the chief for his speech, and then announcing the next act.

Blaine had some trouble understanding what he said. Only when the song started, he realised that this man had one special way of referring to Ke$ha and that hit song of hers. Although Blaine usually quite like Top 40 songs, he didn't see the appeal of _Tik Tok_. But maybe that was just him – all the kids around him were going wild.

He immediately realised, when looking at the stage, that New Directions wasn't a large group – there were only twelve people, the minimum number to compete.

As for the performance, he wasn't sure what to think. The girl who sang had a nice enough voice – but was she the normal soloist? Did she usually sing during competitions? Was 'nice enough' going to win them Regionals? – and the dancing was more complicated than anything the Warblers had ever attempted, so there was definitely room for improvement there. Blaine made a mental note to bring that up during the next Warbler meeting.

He also understood now why Kurt (who, alright, Blaine had to admit, actually looked pretty adorable among the bigger and maybe even a little threatening looking jocks in the group) had been wearing those clothes if he didn't like them – all the New Directions members were wearing similar clothing. And although none of them looked the same, like the Warblers (and all Dalton students, actually) did, they were still obviously one group.

A shock went through the audience and everyone quieted down immediately as the singing girl suddenly threw up, covering another girl with an unidentifiable grey substance that was probably vomit, but didn't look like it. Another girl followed suit and started vomiting too. Soon after, the group scurried backstage.

After the rather shocking performance – Blaine had never seen anything like it – the principal talked to the students for two or three more minutes before letting them go. Blaine didn't quite understand why the man hadn't told them that the example New Directions had set wasn't a good one – as a matter of fact, the man seemed to approve of what had just happened on stage.

Along with the McKinley High students, Blaine left the gym. Soon, though, all the students were gone, and Blaine was, once more, standing in the middle of a corridor with no idea where he was, or which way the exit was. After walking around for half a minute, he almost bumped into two girls – two pretty familiar looking girls. Blaine instantly recognised them as the two girls who had just thrown up on stage. Fortunately, there was no vomit in sight this time.

"What?" one of them – a Latina – snapped, and Blaine realised that he must have been staring at them quite blatantly. Not a very polite thing to do.

"Nothing," he said hastily. "I'm just – "

"Wondering how we could be stupid enough to throw up on stage?" the same girl asked, using the same tone as earlier. The blonde next to her just stared at him curiously.

"Are you a hobbit, like Rachel?" she wondered out loud, and Blaine reddened instantly. He had no idea who this Rachel girl was, but judging from the two girls' faces, they didn't like her much. As for himself, people called him a hobbit sometimes, but it was either to playfully tease him or to cruelly make fun of him. This girl, on the other hand, seemed _sincere_. The Latina seemed to crack up at the question.

"No, I'm not," he therefore found himself saying, but the Latina nodded her head enthusiastically, which caused the blond girl to become even more confused. "I'm just new. I'm lost."

"New, huh?" The Latina suddenly eyed him with a lot more interest. Her tone was different too.

"Uh – yeah," Blaine replied, becoming _very_ uneasy under her almost hungry gaze. "But I think I'm done for today, so could you just show me – "

"Of course we'll show you around," the girl purred. Blaine figured that, if he hadn't been gay, he would've been at the girl's feet by now, but since he _was_ gay, he didn't exactly like this kind of attention.

"Just the exit would be fine," he squeaked.

"How did you find the gym if you're lost?" the blonde asked, appearing at the Latina's other side.

"Someone showed me – " Blaine started, but the girls didn't let him finish.

"So you already know someone here, hm?" the Latina asked. "Boy or girl?"

Blaine didn't see how that mattered, but he responded anyway. It was the least he could do after spying on their performance. "Boy. His name – "

"No, let me guess," the girl muttered in his ear, and Blaine tried to step away from her, only to have her grab his arm. "Was he performing with us? That would make this very easy…" The blonde looked like she didn't understand that, but Blaine did – after all, there were only six boys onstage, as opposed to over a hundred in the stands.

"Yeah, he was," he replied, and the Latina grinned like a Cheshire cat.

"Oh, this is fun. Okay… was he awkwardly tall?"

Blaine thought for a moment. "No."

"In a wheelchair?"

"No, not exactly…"

"Did he have a Mohawk?"

"… No."

"Was he Asian?"

"No – look, can't I just – "

"Blonde with big lips?"

If Blaine was correct, she'd guessed five times now, and none of those things applied to Kurt. "No, he wasn't."

"He was gay?"

Blaine stared at her for a moment. For as far as he knew, Kurt hadn't appeared to be gay – sure, his voice was higher than that of most teenage boys and he had alluded to being bullied, so that might be a hint. He hadn't looked happy with his outfit _at all_. "Possibly?" he replied. Personally, he wouldn't mind so much.

Looking in front of him again, he noticed that this looked a whole lot like a choir room. It sounded nothing like a choir room, though. Everyone was just talking and yelling and shouting at one another, but one look at the two girls next to him told Blaine that this wasn't an irregular occurrence.

As the girls walked in, Blaine followed closely. He had no idea what was going to happen, and his gut instinct told him to run while he could, but he ignored it. Why? He had no idea.

The girls stood still in front of Kurt, who had already changed out of the outfit he'd worn on stage. He was telling a short brunette girl (Rachel, maybe?) that she'd better keep _her_ outfit on, since 'it wasn't in any way fashionable, but an improvement compared to what she normally wore'. Now, Blaine could definitely see Kurt as gay.

"Kurt, you know this guy?" the Latina asked him, interrupting their conversation, or whatever it was. She pushed him forward, and he smiled sheepishly. A strange look appeared on Kurt's face (again) and he nodded.

"Yeah, I know him. I'll just… help him find his way out now." With a quick look in the short girl's direction, he jumped up from his chair, grabbed his bag from the chair next to it, and almost pushed Blaine out of the door.

Being the shorter of the two, Blaine almost had to start running to keep up with Kurt. He didn't understand what was wrong, but before he could ask, someone called Kurt from somewhere behind them. It was a tall guy – Blaine thought he'd seen him on stage, but he couldn't be too sure.

"What, Finn?" Kurt asked almost venomously.

The boy, Finn, seemed to shrink a little. "You're my ride home, remember? You can't just run away like that."

"Fine," Kurt huffed. "I'll be right there. You know where I parked this morning, right?" Finn looked curiously from Kurt to Blaine and back, shrugged, and walked away again. Seeing Blaine's questioning glance, Kurt commented, "Stepbrothers…"

"Ah." That… didn't really explain a lot to Blaine, as he had never had to deal with a stepsibling. His parents were still happily married – well, they were married. He didn't know if they were happy. He liked to think that they were, as they were already so disappointed in him – there should be _something_ that kept them together, right?

"So what did you think of the performance?" Kurt asked, and he seemed to brace himself for whatever opinion Blaine could have.

"It was interesting," Blaine replied, and he didn't lie. It _had_ been interesting, just… in a weird way. "Were those girls supposed to throw up?"

"No, they weren't," Kurt told him, pulling a face. "Turns out Rachel gave them some heavy stuff to drink before going on stage."

"You didn't drink?" Blaine asked, and Kurt shook his head. "Well, at least there wasn't a sex riot this time…"

"That's true," Kurt admitted. "And I've already got one bad experience with alcohol. I don't need to repeat that ever again. Besides, Mr Schue just made all of them puke to just get the alcohol out of their system. I'm glad I didn't have to."

Blaine smiled wryly before remembering that he should try to get as much information as possible. "Was this your usual style, this performance?" he asked.

Again, Kurt sent him a look Blaine couldn't quite decipher. "We usually practise more, if that's what you're asking," he replied, suddenly looking Blaine right in the eye. "As I'm sure you do too."

"W-What?" Damn it, he wasn't supposed to stutter! Blaine never stuttered, so why start now? Though, it could have something to do with the fact that this admittedly sort-of-cute, potentially gay guy who-was-also-the-competition might know what he was up to.

"You're the lead vocalist of the Warblers," Kurt said evenly, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow, as if daring Blaine to deny this. Blaine, however, couldn't exactly form words at that moment – he was just gaping at the other boy.

"H-How do you – " he started, before losing track of his thoughts again.

"Rachel forced me to watch some of your performances on the internet with her," Kurt explained. "Of course, you're out of your blazer now, and your hair's different, so it's not that obvious."

"When did you find out?" Blaine asked, curious. Why hadn't he been thrown out of the school, then?

"I thought you looked familiar the moment I first saw you," Kurt replied, "and then you started grinning like mad when I mentioned the Glee club. It wasn't that hard." He looked around for a moment before adding, "That's why I nearly dragged you out of the choir room earlier. I figured you'd be a dead man if Rachel recognised you."

"The short brunette?" Blaine guessed, and Kurt nodded. "Why did you let me watch anyway?"

"I didn't think it would have any bad consequences for us if you watched. Maybe you'll now start thinking we're some sort of joke. Besides, it's not like you filmed it or anything – that's what Rachel would do, and has already done a couple of times, I think. And if you're brave enough to come here and try to watch us perform, well, you're one of the first. Most students just watch us perform at assemblies because they have to be there."

"They seemed to like the song, though," Blaine said.

"Like that'll make any difference," Kurt scoffed. "They'll go back to ignoring or bullying us tomorrow, they always do. As I said, you have to be brave to come here to watch us – if anyone would overhear, you're no longer safe in this school."

"They threatened to take away my solos," Blaine muttered, and Kurt stared at him disbelievingly for a moment before laughing out loud.

"You really _are_ just like Rachel, you know that?" Kurt asked him gleefully. "I mean, I suppose that everyone in New Directions would go on a spying mission if they'd get solos in return, but you just… you even _sound_ like her right now."

From what he'd heard so far about this Rachel girl, being compared to her was not something Blaine should want. So he crossed his arms defiantly and glared at Kurt – which was made almost impossible by the fact that Kurt was no longer looking in his direction.

"I should go," Kurt suddenly announced. "Finn's probably wondering what's taking me so long. And I believe that Westerville isn't all that close to Lima either."

"Right," Blaine muttered. "Yeah, I'd better get out of here."

"I'm sure your fellow Warblers will be looking forward to hearing what you've learned today," Kurt commented as they started walking again.

Blaine just rolled his eyes. "I think I'll just try to convince them that you're all a bunch of crazy people, escaped from the loony bin."

Kurt shrugged. "At least that's more true than telling them that we normally go on stage drunk and try to vomit all over the audience."

Blaine certainly hoped that _that_ was true.

"I suppose we'll meet again at Regionals, then," Kurt told him with a small grin. "We're going to wipe the floor with you, you can count on that."

Unsure if it was a bad thing that Blaine was both looking forward to Regionals even more now, and wondering if there a way to meet Kurt again _before_ then, he just settled for rolling his eyes. "We'll see about that," he replied, "you'd better get your team sobered up again first."

With that, another eye-roll and a wave, the two of them parted ways – for now, at least. Blaine suddenly didn't remember why he'd been so opposed to spying in the first place; it hadn't been _that _bad in the end.

* * *

**A/N**: So... what do you think? Did you like it, hate it, something else? Hopefully none of the characters were too OOC :S If you have any comments/questions/ideas/anything else, don't hesitate to leave a review!


	2. Sectionals

**A/N**: To be honest, I thought not every chapter would be as long as the first one. Apparently, this one is.

Right - I hope that none of the characters seem (too) OOC - let's just say David has most of the school year to mature enough to become the council member we all know, and Wes just sometimes gets pulled along with David's antics. And I realise that I shouldn't keep writing Blaine/the Warblers in general seeing New Directions perform, and that I should stop writing Blaine as some sort of love-sick puppy... My apologies for that, I'll try to work on it :P

I don't normally like writing minute-to-minute descriptions of a scene/episode everybody's already seen anyway, so I hope it's not too boring :P Hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Blaine looked around somewhat curiously. It felt odd, just sitting in the audience without having to worry about having to get on stage soon.

It had been Wes' idea to come – of course it had, Wes was already getting ready to become a council member next year, when he would be a senior, and coming up with stuff like this only made him more of a shoe in for a spot on the council. It would be good to scope out the competition, he had argued. Besides, even if they wouldn't make it through Sectionals themselves – they were up against Vocal Adrenaline, so their chances at winning Sectionals weren't all that big – maybe they could learn a thing or two from the teams competing today.

Their own Sectionals was next week, so there had been extra long afternoon rehearsals to make up for the time they lost today, by just sitting back and watching a deaf kids' choir, some criminal girls and some brand new public school group. Well, at least they wouldn't get bored, Blaine thought.

The reform school for girls was up first, and Blaine could feel some of his team mates shrink in their seats. He had to admit, those girls looked pretty tough. Intimidating. Not the sort of people he'd want to meet in a dark, deserted alley in the middle of the night – not that Blaine ever walked through dark, deserted alleys in the middle of the night – or, well, at all. Luckily, these girls didn't look like they'd ever even come close to Dalton.

"That's a good song they're singing," David muttered from next to him, and Blaine had to agree. It sounded good, but also… angry. But maybe he was just very prejudiced against these girls.

He glanced around the room to see how the other people in the audience felt about the performance – apart from a group of teenagers looking completely shell-shocked, confused, and kind of furious at the same time, they all seemed to like it. So Blaine figured that he should probably like it as well.

"What – " Wes started when the next song started.

"What _are_ they doing?" Nick asked, furrowing his brows. "Why are they in wheelchairs all of a sudden?"

"It _is_ a great idea, though. Very original," Tom, one of the council members, said appraisingly. "The other teams will have a hard time measuring up to this."

Blaine couldn't agree more, even though the girls looked dangerous even when in wheelchairs.

As he looked around once more, it was the same group of teenagers again who weren't having a good time watching the performance. By now, they looked frustrated and even more angry than a few minutes ago.

Maybe they were on one of the opposing teams? Still, they didn't have to look so sour – they could accept the fact that perhaps, this group was better than they were. Not that big a deal, right? There was always next year.

After a half an hour break – apparently, there would be an hour-long break between the second and third performance – the second choir was ready to go on stage. Judging from the way they sang – or whatever it was – these were the deaf kids. It was… somewhat endearing, Blaine thought, but that was all. If this group won, it wouldn't be because they were good, but because the judges felt pity for them, or something along those lines.

A sharp voice cut through the performance and he noticed that a girl was standing up and storming out. Looking better, he saw that it was the group who'd been looking so foul earlier on. Now, they just looked desperate and at the end of their wits. He wondered what was up with that.

When he looked back half a minute later, they were all gone. Blaine forced himself to keep watching the performance, but he still didn't like it very much.

"They call that singing?" David asked quietly, but Tom quickly shushed him, seeming intrigued.

The performance ended, and the Warblers walked back into the main hall. "I suppose we should have lunch now?" Blaine asked the others, but nobody really had any idea what was going to happen now.

That was, until Colin, another council member, announced that it was, indeed, time for lunch, that they could stay where they were to eat, but that there might be some places to eat just outside the building. "As long as you're back in…" He glanced at his watch swiftly. "Forty-five minutes. We don't want to miss the final performance."

Blaine let Wes and David drag him outside – sure, they were juniors and he was just a sophomore, but they had become quick friends ever since Blaine had auditioned for the Warblers the previous year – and in doing so, they passed an insanely tall guy who came rushing in as if his life depended on it.

"I wonder what his problem is," David commented, and the other two just snickered a bit before launching into a debate about whether or not to take the car to wherever they were going to go. In the end, they did take the car – who knew where they were going to end up.

Lunch was over sooner than they expected, however, and they had to rush back to be in time – which they still weren't, but at least they'd tried… sort of. At least Colin didn't give them his death glare, as that was seriously scary. Blaine had been on the receiving end of it once, and he didn't want to have to experience _that_ again.

"Come on, take your seats," Tom told them hurriedly as they came in. Everyone else was already seated again, and Blaine could easily make out the faces of the coaches from the teams that had already competed. They looked unnaturally happy about something or other. Which was weird, because the final group still had to perform. How could they be so sure they'd won? Besides – they couldn't _both_ win.

"Wait – " Jeff said, his hands before his mouth, so Blaine had to try very hard to understand him, " – did that guy just say… nude erections?"

A couple of other Warblers burst into silent laughter at this, but Wes just checked the program. "It says here that they're called New Directions," he informed them, but that didn't do anything to calm the others down. Blaine thought it was pretty funny as well – honestly, couldn't they have put a _little_ more thought into their name?

Then, the music started, but there was nobody on stage yet.

"Did they bolt?" Blaine asked Nick as quietly as possible, but the other boy just shrugged.

"No clue," he whispered back. He looked like he wanted to say more, but right at that moment, a girl started singing.

And still, the stage was empty. Blaine was quite confused now.

"Look at the back," Wes hissed at him – or the group in general? – and Blaine hastily turned around in his seat.

It was the girl who had stormed out earlier. So he had been right – they _were_ the competition.

"Is anyone else going to join her?" Tom muttered curiously. "I mean, it's a show choir competition, not some talent show for solo acts…"

"We'll just have to wait and see," Colin hissed back. "Now be quiet." He looked quite impressed by the girl's voice – as was Blaine, and, he was sure, the entire audience. Except, he suddenly noticed out of the corner of his eye, the two other teams. They must not like this very much.

The girl looked determined – she seemed to be putting all that frustration from earlier into her song, and Blaine had to admit, he had listened to much worse things.

By now, the girl was on the stage, but still – no sign of anyone else. It would be pretty sad if they had all left, and only this girl was still here. When she sang the part about marching her band out for the second time, some people in the back rows started cheering somewhat, and all the Warblers turned around as if on cue.

She was right – that must be the rest of the group. David nudged Blaine and muttered, "Hey, look, it's the tall guy who almost ran you over an hour ago."

Blaine just glared at him for a moment before turning back towards the stage. The group was almost there now, and the song drew to a close. If this was their first song, Blaine couldn't wait to hear the next one.

When the girl announced the group, Blaine – and, he was sure, others as well – immediately noticed that she made sure that the name could _not_ be misinterpreted by some teenage boys' dirty minds. The audience quieted down as the group stood in formation, ready to start the next song, and Blaine leaned forward expectantly.

He was not disappointed. The group sounded great together. Sure, their choreography seemed a little choppy, but they danced (well, walked) around more than the Warblers – not that that was such a huge feat, Blaine had to remind himself. David seemed to think it was incredibly funny that the tall guy was singing lead – he kept sniggering behind his hand until Wes had enough and jabbed him in the side. Fortunately, David's yelp wasn't too loud.

After the guy, the girl who'd sung earlier came forward again to belt out another pretty flawless solo while the group seemed to become more and more loose every second. It was nice, Blaine thought – not what he was used to at all, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Around him, people were standing up to dance along, and before he knew it, he was on his feet as well, grinning at the stage appreciatively.

The criminal girls had some real competition after all, it seemed. Because when the group was done, the crowd really went wild. Blaine could only hope that the Warblers would get a similar reaction next week during their Sectionals.

While everyone else tried to get back to the main hall as quickly as possible, the Warblers opted to stay where they were – the judges' deliberation would take about half an hour, according to the booklet, and it was much quieter here than out there, they were certain.

However, it didn't come as a surprise (to Blaine at least) when David started complaining about being bored only five minutes into the break. "Can't we go for a walk? There's probably plenty to explore around here," he suggested, looking around the group with begging eyes.

"Fine," Blaine groaned. "I'll come."

"Wes, you should go too," Colin said hastily, before Blaine and David could get away. "To keep an eye on them, and make sure they're back in time."

Wes didn't look very happy about having to come with them, but Blaine was certain that deep inside, he felt honoured that the council bestowed this task on him, no matter how silly it actually was – babysitting two of his best friends.

Once back in the main hall, the group of three quickly glanced around. "I think we should go that way," David whispered, pointing in a random direction. "There's nobody there."

"With reason, probably," Wes retorted. "I bet we're not supposed to be there."

"Let's just go and have a look," David almost whined. "If there's nothing there, we're back here quickly enough. And if we're not allowed to go there, well, we'll just say we got lost or something."

"Something tells me you've done stuff like this before," Blaine muttered as they crossed the room to get to the corridor David had pointed at. As David nodded proudly, Blaine rolled his eyes.

"You were the one who went with him voluntarily," Wes reminded him.

Blaine sighed, having no witty response for _that_. "You know it's a bad idea to let David roam hallways by himself," he told Wes. "_Bad_ things happen, remember?" Wes just nodded gravely at the memory – well, memories.

As they turned around a corner, they promptly bumped into David, who had been walking ahead of them, but was now obviously standing still. Within half a second, the three of them were lying on the floor.

"Who are _they_?" someone suddenly asked, and more voices were heard, but Blaine, conveniently sandwiched in between Wes and David with his head facing away from people who just spoke, couldn't see anyone.

He thought he heard David curse, and that was Wes' cue to start moving off of them. "Hello," Wes greeted the people while Blaine and David disentangled themselves. "I'm Wes, and that's David and Blaine. And you are?"

Well, that was a useless question, Blaine realised as he looked at the group of people standing in what looked like a random corridor. These were the members of New Directions.

Instead of answering the question, though, a guy with a Mohawk asked briskly, "Are you from some prep school, or what?" He glanced them up and down in obvious distaste.

Ah, yes. They were, of course, in full uniform. The Warblers, as a group, never went anywhere without their uniforms, not even on occasions like this.

"Yes, we are," David said proudly, and Blaine felt like face palming. Sure, this group probably wasn't as bad as the criminal girls, but they were still public school kids who might not like hearing rich boys brag about their private school.

"And what are you doing here?" a blond girl asked, frowning as if she was trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together, but couldn't.

"We could ask you the same thing," Wes huffed, and he was immediately met by a bunch of 'sshh!'s.

"Just be quiet!" the small brunette who'd sung the biggest part of the songs hissed at them. "We're trying – "

She was interrupted by the guy with the Mohawk. "Kurt will fill you in. But not in this corridor."

"What?" a slightly smaller boy exclaimed, ignoring the shushing noises his team mates made. "Why me?"

"There's nothing we can do here anyway," the black girl who was standing next to him said.

"Plus, those preppy boys probably go to some all-boys school, which, to me, is equal to _gay school_," the guy with the Mohawk elaborated, and Blaine could almost _feel_ David and Wes' need to point out that they were, in fact, straight. "That's right down your alley."

Although the boy – Kurt, apparently – was standing with his back towards them, Blaine just knew that he was sending a very fierce glare towards his team mates, and the Mohawked boy in particular.

"Just go, Kurt," the black girl told him quietly. "Before they find out that we're here. We'll fill you in later, okay?"

With a rather exaggerated huff, the boy turned around and started marching away, and Blaine followed him hurriedly, Wes and David lagging behind just a little bit.

"What was that good for?" the boy snapped all of a sudden, standing still (Blaine almost ran into him… what a strange day this was). "Why were you there? Why did you feel the need to go there? As far as I'm aware, _you_ didn't compete today, so why were you hanging outside the judges' room?" Ah. It suddenly became clear to Blaine why the group had been there. "Who _are_ you, even? For all I know you're going to beat me to pulp and leave me somewhere nobody will find me for about a week – "

He rambled on, but Blaine wasn't listening anymore. He was just staring at the boy. They were the same height, and if he was in a high school show choir competition, he couldn't be that much younger than Blaine – honestly, just seeing him getting all riled up like that… it was kind of hot.

Blaine blinked, forcing those thoughts out of his head. He didn't even know the guy! He didn't even know if he was gay (although, if his team mates told him that talking to boys from an assumed gay school was something he could do best – he probably was gay).

"We're not going to hurt you," Wes told the boy, looking at him apprehensively, as if _they_ were the ones about to get attacked.

"Oh," the boy said in a much calmer tone, "really?"

"Yes," David and Blaine chorused, before looking at each other oddly.

"So you were eavesdropping on the judges?" Blaine asked after glancing around. It appeared that they were very close to the main lobby.

"We just wanted to know what they thought," the boy replied, sounding a bit miserable. "But – you never answered Quinn's question. What were _you_ doing there?"

"Just looking around," David admitted somewhat apologetically.

Wes cleared his throat, and Blaine could already guess what was coming. "We go to the Dalton Academy for boys in Westerville. We," he said, indicating the three of them, "are in the Warblers, Dalton's a cappella s choir. We were merely here to scope out the competition for Regionals."

"If we get through our own Sectionals, that is," Blaine hurriedly added.

The boy just stared at them for a few seconds, seeming deep in thought. "Huh," he started, "I never thought of doing that. If we win today, I should ask Rachel if she was planning to go and watch you next week…" Blaine decided that he liked it a whole lot better when this boy wasn't freaking out, but just normally talking to them. He didn't even reprimand them for spying on the competition – on the other hand, it was a public event, so there wasn't much he could have done about it anyway.

"We're competing against Vocal Adrenaline," David said, and the boy visibly winced. "So we'll really have to be in top shape."

"So _will_ you be there to watch?" It was out of his mouth before Blaine could help himself and he felt mortified. Fortunately, the boy didn't seem to notice his inner turmoil and just shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe, if we win today…"

Wes and David, however, were an entirely different story – they were smirking widely at Blaine. "Oh, you should come," Wes told him cheerfully. "It's Blaine's first competition, and he needs all the moral support he can get."

Blaine was about to remind Wes that no, this was not his first competition, did he forget about last year's Sectionals, before he realised that his friend was trying to do him some sort of weird favour here. Now, the boy just looked confused.

"But I don't even know you guys…"

"I'm sure Blaine won't mind taking you out for coffee – "

" – or lunch – "

" – or dinner – "

" – or a movie – "

" – or anything else – "

" – so you can get to know each other."

Luckily, Blaine wasn't the only one who seemed mortified now.

"Just leave it, guys," he muttered. He really didn't need his friends to try to set him up with a boy he'd just met five minutes ago. "Forget they did that," he told Kurt. "They get like that sometimes."

The other boy just nodded, most likely not trusting his voice to speak right now.

"So why did you storm out during the second performance?" David asked – Blaine hadn't even realised that he wasn't the only one who had witnessed that. Sort of.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Kurt replied, leaning against a wall.

Of course, this only made them more curious. "No, do tell," Wes urged him, a strange gleam in his eyes.

"They stole out set list," Kurt blurted out before sighing. "It's complicated."

"We love complicated," David assured him.

"New Directions – we're not exactly popular at our school," Kurt started, carefully glancing at their faces to catch their reactions – which mostly consisted of disbelief. "But the person who hates the club the most is the cheerleading coach. She was named co-director of the club some time ago because of some awful luck on our part, and she demanded a copy of our set-list. She called coaches of the other teams to our school and gave them the set list, and some video footage of our choreography. We didn't know until we came here and saw it with our own eyes."

Silence followed his words at first, until Blaine found his voice again. "That sounds incredibly complicated indeed."

Kurt smiled somewhat sadly. "To think this was the simplified version of the story…"

Another silence, then – "Public school is crazy," Wes said, his eyes wide.

"Wait," David said, "so… if what you're saying is true, and you realised your set list was leaked when watching the other two groups – did you put together that performance right before going on stage?"

Blaine hadn't even thought about that.

Kurt nodded. "Yeah, I know. It was a little rough around the edges, and we've given better performances, but… we didn't have much of a choice."

"I'm still not sure if I should believe that story," Wes said doubtfully. "I mean, you could just be thinking up all sorts of excuses about why your performance didn't go very well, or – "

"It's true," a voice cut Wes short. It was one of the other coaches – Blaine thought she was with the criminal girls. She didn't look Kurt in the eye, but he was glaring at her. "I'm going to talk to the judges now."

Kurt's glare didn't waver, but the woman probably didn't notice anyway. She hurried away again, going in the direction they had just come from.

"Okay," Wes said slowly. "So it was true. Sorry."

Kurt was about to reply, when slightly raised voices were heard – it was the woman talking to, Blaine assumed, the other New Directions kids.

"Well, whatever is going to happen today – good luck next week," Kurt told them with a small smile. "You'll need it against Vocal Adrenaline."

"You're coming, right?" Damn – Blaine hoped he didn't sound all too eager. "I mean – if you want to. If you don't have anything else to do. If – "

"I'll see what I can do," Kurt replied, blushing a little.

"We'll stomp Vocal Adrenaline," Wes said confidently. "We are _way_ better than they are."

"They're the national champions," Kurt pointed out dryly, and at that moment, a group of people came walking up to them – the judges, the coach, and New Directions.

"I think we should go and find our seats again," David announced. "Well, it was great to meet you, Kurt, and we hope to see you next week. Or, if you want to see Blaine some time this week after all – he's not that hard to find on Facebook." With that and a very exaggerated wink, he dragged Blaine away, towards where Wes was already waiting for them.

"I really hate you," Blaine told them later, when they were surrounded by their fellow Warblers again.

"No, you don't," Wes said with a smirk. "You don't."

Blaine hated it when Wes was right. Especially when that meant that _he_ was wrong.

He grinned from ear to ear, jumped up and clapped (and cheered) loudly when New Directions was announced to be the winners of the competition. He tried to catch Kurt's eye, but that was made impossible because of the fact that there were some big guys in the row in front of him who were also standing up. Why did he have to be so small, again?

David nudged him. "Hey, now he almost _has_ to come next week, if only to see what the competition is up to."

Blaine had never felt happier in his entire life.

* * *

**A/N**: This just begs for a sequel, doesn't it? Well, that's not going to happen, I'm afraid. Please let me know what you think, though, and leave a review! :) That would be very nice and helpful. Also, feel free to mention scenes or situations that happened in an episode (on- or off-screen) which might work with Blaine (and/or the rest of the Warblers) inserted in them :P I can't promise I'll immediately write them but I'll definitely take them in consideration :)


	3. Silly love songs

**A/N**: Okay, so I've at least moved on from Blaine watching ND perform (to half of ND watching the Warblers perform, but hey, details). From Blaine acting like a lovesick puppy, not so much, so I hope you don't mind that all too much :P I've got a few more chapters more or less finished for this (though I'm not entirely happy about at least one), so there should be another update soon... I think. (And only one week of waiting left! It's about time we got some new episodes!)

Anyway - as said, in this chapter, Kurt and the girls (minus Rachel, who, for some reason, I don't see going on shopping sprees with them... probably also because she and Kurt might not have bonded the way they did on the show if Kurt hadn't transferred to Dalton, so she'd have no real connection to any of them) witness the Gap Attack. And there's an aftermath. So I hope you'll like it - especially _njferrell_ and _SaphirePhoenix_, who asked for this scene to be written. I might do another version of this at some point, in which the Gap Attack doesn't take place because Blaine couldn't convince the Warblers. But I'd have to figure out first if I could make that different enough from this :)  
Also, I feel horribly awkward writing in Kurt's POV, but this just wouldn't work in Blaine's, so I sort of had to :P So please let me know if anyone (including the girls) seems OOC or anything. Actually, let me know all your thoughts on this, they can only help me grow :) And they're just much appreciated.

Hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter!

* * *

While waiting for Tina and Quinn to figure out what exactly they wanted to buy, Kurt got a call. Mercedes, who was standing next to him, frowned as he fumbled to get the phone out of his pocket.

"Santana?" he asked, confused. Santana and Brittany had wanted to go inside the Gap, while the other girls would rather check out some jewellery – one guess with which group Kurt had chosen to go. "What's wrong? We're meeting up – "

"_You have to come here, now_." Santana's tone was final, as if she'd rather they be there now than in a second. "_There's an unnaturally high amount of guys from that private school – what was it called again? The one we tied with at Sectionals_."

"Dalton?" Kurt asked, and now, Mercedes looked more interested. When they had opted to go shopping in Westerville for a change, they had known that they might run into some boys from their rival school, but they hadn't really figured out what to do when the situation would actually arise.

"_Yeah, yeah, whatever_," Santana said. "_Anyway, I don't know if they're the Garglers_ – " At this point, Kurt didn't even bother correcting her anymore. It was as if she (and Puck) purposefully pronounced the name of the other group wrong. " – _but you might want to come anyway. There's too much of them here for it to be a coincidence_."

At that moment, Tina and Quinn emerged from the store they'd been in up until now. "We'll be right there," Kurt promised Santana, and hung up. "We're going to the Gap," he announced to the other girls. "As much as I don't want to be seen there – even if nobody knows us here – there's a whole bunch of Dalton guys there."

"Warblers?" Tina asked as they took off.

"Santana said she wasn't sure, but something was up," Kurt replied.

Luckily, the Gap wasn't too far from where they'd been, so it didn't take a very long time to get there. Kurt wrinkled his nose before following the girls in. When they spotted Brittany (who seemed to be talking to one of the dummies on display) and Santana, the Latina waved them over impatiently.

"Good, you made it," she said hurriedly. From where they were standing, Kurt could see at least six or seven boys in Dalton uniforms.

"What are they doing?" Quinn asked, looking around as well.

"Looks like they're all waiting for something," Mercedes replied. The Dalton boys were all trying just a little _too_ hard not to get noticed and trying to blend in with the background.

Alright, maybe the other customers fell for it, but Kurt knew – and he was sure the girls did too – that if there were so many people in the same attire in one place, something was bound to happen sooner or later. So he turned around and started searching through the nearest rack of clothes as well, attempting to look inconspicuous.

"You _do_ realise those are tights, right?" Mercedes asked apprehensively, and Kurt jumped away from the rack as quickly as possible. As if being in the Gap wasn't bad enough, he had also pretended to be looking at Rachel Berry approved clothing? He didn't know how he was going to live with himself from now on.

While he tried to recover, Santana was snickering in the background, and Tina and Quinn tried to pry Brittany away from the dummies she was talking to. Then, they moved a little, so they could at least see the cash register and the exit, and they waited.

And then, the show started.

A guy Kurt thought he recognised as the Warblers' lead singer from Sectionals stepped forward, and Santana hummed appreciatively, already checking him out. The guy gestured towards a nearby team mate and suddenly, they heard the opening notes of what sounded like Beethoven's fifth symphony – sung, a cappella, of course.

"What – " Kurt started, but Quinn interrupted him.

"They're going to sing!" she exclaimed (a little redundantly), and Mercedes and Tina were already whipping out their phones to film the performance – this was _the_ chance to see what the competition was up to, and they might want to watch it another time in more detail. Plus, none of them really wanted to suffer the wrath of one Rachel Berry if she ever were to find out that they'd seen the Warblers perform and not taped it or anything.

The lead singer started singing, but Kurt didn't recognise the song. He just knew that it wasn't really Beethoven's fifth. The girls seemed to know the song, though, so it was probably just him.

"Who's he singing to?" Brittany asked, confused, and Mercedes and Tina moved forward just a little bit, to avoid only taping their talk and not the song.

That was a good question. Kurt had no idea. Then, Santana sighed and said, "Looks like he's following that guy over there around the store." She looked rather downtrodden, even though the guy probably wouldn't have given her a second glance if he had been following a _girl_ instead.

Still, Kurt thought it was pretty fascinating that apparently, the Warblers' lead singer was gay. Or bi. And none of the other Warblers seemed to have much of a problem assisting him in serenading some _male_ _Gap employee_. Now it was Kurt's turn to hum appreciatively.

Indeed, the boy kept on stalking the employee – who appeared to be almost fleeing away from him – around the store during the song. Kurt hadn't thought much of it at first, but wasn't this song a little too… sexual? To him, it sounded like there were a whole lot of innuendo's hidden (or maybe not really hidden) in the song.

"This sounds like something you or Puck would sing," he told Santana in a low voice – she just smirked back at him.

Quinn didn't seem very impressed by the performance. "I never thought that those Dalton boys would sing a song like _this_," she muttered, and Kurt had to agree. True, they had only heard them sing _Hey Soul Sister_ at Sectionals, so they didn't know much about their usual song selection, but fancy private school boys and innuendo filled songs like this didn't add up in Kurt's head.

"At least the rest of the Warblers are making a bit of a show out of it," he muttered back. They were appearing from behind racks of clothing, playing with sunglasses, doing some gymnastics here and there – it was nothing like the stiff Sectionals performance.

"He looks completely obsessed," Santana remarked, smirking again. "Come on – that guy's not _that_ hot!"

"Is he even gay?" Quinn wondered out loud.

Kurt scoffed. "Of course he is. Look at the hair!"

Santana and Quinn gave him some weird looks. "You can see if a guy is gay by his hair?" Quinn asked, frowning slightly.

"Not always," Kurt replied, nodding at the lead singer, who was, by now, jumping on some (or should he say all?) of the displays. "I didn't realise that he might be gay, but… alright, it looks like he spends a little too much time doing his hair in the morning to be straight."

The girls looked impressed, and Kurt felt immensely pleased with himself for a moment.

Glancing at Mercedes and Tina, he noticed that they must've decided to split things up – Mercedes was filming the lead singer, while Tina kept her phone glued to the rest of the Warblers as well as she could. Good – the more footage they had, the better.

"Why does he keep jumping on everything?" Mercedes groaned quietly. Since she was also standing a couple of feet away, Kurt barely heard her. "He's crazy!"

"You do realise we're really in the front row now, right?" Quinn asked, glancing around a bit worriedly. "What if they recognise us?"

"You really think that guy is going to let us stand in his way when serenading blondie?" Santana asked with a snort. "_I'm_ doing great here, I'll have you know – these guys are _fit_."

There was no way Quinn (or Kurt, for that matter) could argue with Santana on _that_.

When the song ended, the lead singer slid forward on his knees towards the cash register, and the guy he'd just serenaded – who still didn't look very happy.

"Let's get out of here," Kurt instructed the girls. "I doubt they're going to sing another song, I'm getting all itchy just from being _in_ the _Gap_, and it's almost lunch time."

It looked like a lot of people were sticking around to see what would unfold between the lead Warbler and the employee, but Kurt couldn't wait to leave the store. If anything, this proved to him that even though apparently, there _were_ other gay guys his age in Ohio, _his_ Valentine's Day wouldn't be anything special. Again.

They entered the first Kurt-approved cafeteria they came across (he had to make sure they didn't just serve fast food) and found themselves a table. "Do we have to go up there and order, or is somebody going to come here?" Tina asked, looking around at what the other people were doing.

"Let's first look at what we even want to eat," Kurt suggested. As it turned out, they really had to go and order their own food, but once they were all served, they started discussing the performance they'd just witnessed. Mercedes and Tina had already e-mailed the videos to themselves (you never knew what suddenly happened to your phone) and they were now talking about the _Gap_ employee (that would've been a major turn-off for Kurt in the first place, but obviously, not everyone thought about it that way).

"Good thing that at least the guy was gay," Kurt commented, grinning. "I mean, what if he'd been straight? That would've been awkward!"

"Like when you had a crush on Finn, or what?" Mercedes joked, and he glared at her half-heartedly.

"I would _never_ sing such a song to Finn. And please, don't mention that ever again. It's weird enough that he's my stepbrother now without you lot reminding me of… well, that." The girls snorted, and Kurt crossed his arms defiantly. "Besides – I don't think I was ever as obsessed with Finn as that guy with the Gap employee. Did you _see_ him?"

"Thank you," someone from behind him said coldly. When Kurt turned around in his seat, he found a handful of Warblers standing there, and the lead singer was glaring at him. "I hope you're happy to hear that he was not interested."

"Oh yeah, that's me," Kurt said sarcastically. "Always taking pleasure in the misfortunes of people I don't even know."

Brittany looked at him concernedly (whether that was because she simply didn't understand what he was saying or because she thought he was serious, Kurt didn't know), but Santana interjected, "I think that would be me, actually."

The other Warblers started to look for a table, but the lead singer was still standing there. At the moment, he was staring at Kurt as if he was the biggest mystery he had ever come across. "I'm Blaine," he suddenly said, and Kurt eyed his now outstretched hand for a second before taking it.

"Kurt," he introduced himself. Before he had properly let go, Brittany leaned across him and greeted Blaine with a wide smile.

"I'm Brittany," she told him, and after her, the other girls introduced themselves as well, laughing as they did.

"It was a good performance, though," Tina said, and this seemed to cheer up Blaine a bit.

"You liked it?" he asked with hopeful eyes. Kurt was reminded vaguely of a puppy that needed to be constantly kept happy, but he forced the thought out of his head. Poor puppies.

Santana's eyes were gleaming as she replied. "Of course we did. And," she continued, looking around the table, "I'm _sure_ that our fellow New Directions members will like it as well."

Blaine's facial expression went from proud to alarmed in a split second, and Kurt felt the need to laugh out loud – so he did. "Did you just say New Directions?" Blaine asked, glancing at Kurt momentarily, obviously hoping that someone, _anyone_, would tell him that no, there were no New Directions members here.

Well, _that_ was not going to happen.

"I think I did," Santana said pensively. "Britt, we're in New Directions, right?"

Brittany nodded earnestly, and Santana smirked at Blaine. He was no longer alone, though – the team mates that had forsaken him in order to find a table were back.

"Did someone say New Directions?" an Asian boy asked, looking from Blaine to Kurt and the girls.

Mercedes rolled her eyes. "How often do we have to repeat ourselves? Yes, we're in New Directions, and yes, we just saw your performance."

Now, Blaine wasn't the only one who looked alarmed anymore. "You spied on us?" the same Asian boy asked, looking on the verge of a panic attack.

"That's what you get for singing in public places," Quinn told him. "You never know who witnesses the performance."

All the Warblers were currently staring Blaine down (which wasn't all that hard, since he was the shortest of the group), and Santana added, "We'll be sure to discuss it _at_ _great_ _length_ during our next rehearsal."

"Hey, what does it matter anyway?" a blond guy asked. He reminded Kurt of Sam – blond hair like that just wasn't natural. "They saw us at Sectionals, and we saw them."

"Hey, if we hadn't seen this, we would've been _very_ surprised if you'd suddenly add _choreography_ to your Regionals performance," Kurt reminded them.

"And you can never see too much of your rivals," Tina said.

Mercedes laughed. "Yeah, remember all those times we spied on Vocal Adrenaline last year?"

"They still beat us in the end," Tina muttered.

"So it's actually a good thing that you saw us now and we didn't see you?" another Warbler asked somewhat excitedly.

"Vocal Adrenaline saw us too, before Regionals," Kurt said, attempting to shoot their hope down as quickly as it arose.

"Yeah, because we practically forced them to come," Quinn muttered.

"You really think so?" Mercedes asked. "Trust me, they knew everything we did from the moment Jesse joined…"

Deciding that they had sufficiently confused (and scared, hopefully) the Warblers now, Kurt asked, "Could you leave, please? We're trying to have lunch here, you know."

Muttering amongst themselves, the Warblers took off. Before long, though, Blaine was back at their table, and Kurt raised a questioning eyebrow at him, while the girls just giggled. Fidgeting a bit, the other boy opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before asking, "Are you – free, Monday night?"

Kurt attempted to raise his eyebrow even higher, because seriously? This guy had just serenaded someone, obviously smitten with that person, and now he was trying to ask _him_ out? "Yes," he replied cautiously, "and so are you."

He turned back to his salad before he could see Blaine's face fall – fine, the guy was actually attractive enough and if Kurt would get a chance to think things over a little more, he might cave after all.

Santana let out a low whistle once Blaine was gone. "Harsh," she commented, but she was smirking all the same. Good – if _Santana Lopez_ actually thought something was harsh, Kurt might have to rethink his decision to voluntarily spend Valentine's Day alone.

"You do realise that you're the second person to turn him down today, right?" Mercedes asked.

"Of course," Kurt scoffed. "That's exactly my point – not even an hour ago, he was head over heels for some guy at the Gap and even _serenaded_ him. He's probably not even over him yet – heck, I'm sure he isn't. I'm not going to be some consolation prize because he doesn't want to spend Valentine's Day alone. And even if he already _is_ over that guy – that doesn't bode well, don't you think?"

"True," Quinn admitted. She glanced at the Warblers' table. "He keeps staring at you, though."

"Let him stare," Kurt muttered, trying to pretend he didn't care. He was well aware that he was failing miserably, though – he actually felt fairly honoured that someone was staring at _him_ for a change, and not because they were trying to decide how to torture him next, but because, for whatever it was worth, they thought he was someone to spend Valentine's Day with – even if he had just turned him down.

"I bet," Mercedes started slowly, a grin forming on her face, "that he's going to come to McKinley to serenade _you_ soon. And maybe to spy on us."

"Not in that order, I hope," Tina said, grinning as well.

"Or – " Mercedes continued, ignoring Tina's comment for now, "he's going to dedicate their Regionals performance to you."

"Don't be so ridiculous," Kurt muttered, aware that he must be blushing profusely by now. What a crazy thought that was.

"He does seem like the type of guy who obsesses over stuff like this, though," Quinn observed – naturally, she was grinning as well, and so was Brittany. Kurt was sure Santana would've grinned too if she wasn't too busy smirking at him.

"Let's get out of here," Kurt suggested loudly. "Let's go. Out. Come on. There are _so_ many shops here, and _so_ little time – " He all but sprinted out of the restaurant, sincerely hoping that the girls would follow his lead sooner rather than later, and he tried not to think too much of the fact that it _did_ take the girls longer than strictly necessary, and that when they did, they seemed a little _too_ happy for some reason.

That was, until he got a text that evening from a number he didn't know.

_Sure you don't want to give it a try? x Blaine_

Kurt stared at the message for a moment, his mind reeling. Cursing his friends inwardly, he knew that this was just all the more proof that those girls were all crazy and he wasn't weird or anything for being gay.

Still… that didn't mean that he was going to go out with Blaine just like that.

Not now, anyway.

_Pretty sure. I'm sure you'll get over it. Kurt._

Unsurprisingly, he didn't have to wait long for a response.

_Ugh, fine. Alright. Maybe some coffee, next weekend? Get to know each other first? x Blaine_

Kurt sighed. This guy really didn't take 'no' for an answer, did he? But if he could be stubborn, so could Kurt.

_I honestly don't think that's a good idea._

He never would've thought that he would shoot down someone like Blaine, but here he was. Life was strange sometimes.

_Aw, why not? :( I'd be looking forward to it all week! x Blaine_

Yes, this boy certainly did fall quickly, Kurt decided. Still, he didn't feel like playing this game all night long, so he sent one final text back.

_I'm going to ignore you now. _

Maybe the girls were right and he was being harsh, but he didn't feel like going out with someone who'd just asked out somebody else too.

When he woke up the next morning, he looked at his phone. That turned out to be a bad idea – there were about fifteen new messages, and they were all from Blaine. He received at least twelve more of them that day, and while he couldn't resist reading them (with all the bullying going on, he reasoned with himself that he could do with some ego-boosting, even if the majority of his friends wouldn't agree with that), he never replied.

It looked like Kurt had acquired himself a stalker. He didn't know if he should be happy about that. But – okay, even though he was going to be alone for Valentine's Day, at least he knew that there was someone out there who had wanted to spend that day with him. That was almost as good (or in this case perhaps even better) as having an actual date.

That didn't change the fact that Kurt was _still_ going to ignore Blaine and his annoying text messages, even though he sent at least ten of them every single day.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

_(A little over a month later)_

"You've got to be kidding me." Kurt gaped at the stage as Mercedes, sitting next to him, tried to control her giggles.

"I told you so," she sang under her breath, and when he turned to stare at her, he noticed Quinn and Tina smirking triumphantly at him.

On his other side, Rachel was narrowing her eyes at the stage, probably wondering what on earth the Warblers were doing. Well – not the Warblers, just Blaine, for he was belting out _Misery_ by Maroon 5 while keeping his eyes trained on Kurt the whole performance.

"I feel so embarrassed," Kurt muttered, trying to sink to the floor, but Mercedes wouldn't let him. She hoisted him back up and forced him to look forward, all the while grinning gleefully.

At the end of the song, right before the next one, Quinn (who was sitting at Mercedes' other side) said, "I'm starting to think that the Warblers are just an instrument for him to use whenever he feels like serenading someone…"

It certainly seemed that way now. At least the next song could, under no circumstances, be interpreted as if Blaine was serenading him, making Kurt relax a little – even though the other boy was still looking at him throughout the song.

He'd worry about what to do next when Blaine would undoubtedly corner him later. Not now.

* * *

**A/N**: So... what do you think? At first, I had Kurt give in to Blaine's request to have coffee the week after, but I liked this ending better :P Let me know if you have any questions/comments about the chapter/story (or if you have more ideas for me to write about :D), please leave a review!


	4. Home

**A/N**: Thank you all so much for the reads, reviews, alerts and favourites so far! They really make my day/week/month! :) Just to make this clear (again?): this is not (really) a normal story - the chapters aren't connected in any way, they have nothing to do with each other. They're all separate one-shots. The title of each chapter shows in which episode of _Glee_ it would've taken place if, you know, it had actually taken place.

Now, about this chapter... I'm not too happy about it, to be honest (that might have to do with the lack of Kurt/Blaine interaction... I think). Which is why I'm posting it now - at least I'll have something to post to make up for it (or, I hope it will make up for it). But, who knows, maybe you will like it :) (I hope so!) Oh, and I know that, by the time Kurt and Mercedes join the Cheerios in season 1, the cheerleaders have probably been to Regionals already; but here, just because that's easier, they haven't.

So yeah... hopefully you'll enjoy it! :) Don't forget to leave a review ;)

* * *

If there was one thing Blaine was more apprehensive of than getting dragged into Wes' and David's schemes, it was getting dragged into the two boys' _girlfriends'_ schemes. The two girls attended Dalton's sister school and they had all met at some event that students from both Dalton and Crawford Country Day went to. Blaine didn't know the details, as he hadn't been there with them (for which he was now very grateful), but he had learned soon enough that those four together were just deadly.

Which was how he found himself driving towards some public school in some town somewhere in Ohio because the two girls demanded they go. Something about cheerleading and competitions – once again, he didn't want to know the details.

Wes, however, did, so Blaine was still subjected to listening as the girls explained why this was important to them. He had, by now, figured out that the two girls were cheerleaders themselves, but he still didn't quite get it. He heard the words 'Regionals' and 'rival' and 'spy' and yep, this sounded exactly like Wes' crazy plan to spy on every single Vocal Adrenaline rehearsal for a month before Sectionals – because as it turned out, those rehearsals took half a day, _every day_, so in the end, the Warblers themselves had barely practised.

All in all, not Wes' best idea.

"They've been national champions for four or five years in a row now!" Claire, David's girlfriend, exclaimed, and yes, this became more like their avid Vocal Adrenaline stalking every second.

"So what's the point in spying on them? They'll beat you anyway." Probably not the best thing to say, Blaine realised a little too late, but he was cranky. He didn't want to be here and in cases like this, he tended to become a little immature. The two girls took it entirely the wrong way, and now, Blaine had to listen to them bitching at him. His day was getting better and better.

"We're almost there," David almost shouted as they drove the streets of, oh yes, Lima.

Claire, having calmed down by now, gave Blaine some more directions and in no time, the car was parked in front of some very average (in the worst possible way) public school. Blaine shuddered, remembering all of a sudden _why_ he went to Dalton now. He was just glad the girls hadn't guided him to the high school he would've been sent off to if… stuff hadn't happened.

"At least you're not wearing your Dalton uniforms," Louise, Wes' girlfriend, commented. The girls were wearing normal clothes too, for a change – no school or cheerleading uniforms.

"We learned from last year," Wes muttered – which was true as well. They had gotten caught spying on Vocal Adrenaline so often, and all because there was always at least one person who forgot to change out of their school uniform before going to Carmel.

"Are you sure that pep rally is today?" David asked as they entered the school. Oh – so that was what they were going to see. A pep rally. By a bunch of _girls_ in short skirts. Blaine _honestly_ couldn't think of a better way to spend his afternoon.

"Of course we're sure," Claire scoffed. "Come on, the gym should be… there!" She pointed towards double doors through which a few students were just passing, and the group followed hastily, hoping that they could pass for students here at this school.

The gym wasn't too busy yet, so they just plopped down somewhere, Blaine immediately turning the other way to avoid having to watch his friends and their girlfriends suck faces. He really needed new friends. Preferably single. Maybe also gay.

While the gym became more and more crowded, the cheerleaders entered as well, and they seemed all set to go. Blaine wasn't really focusing on anything, until David nudged him.

"Look, Blaine, there are even male cheerleaders!"

"You mean, _one_ male cheerleader."

"It's the thought that counts."

"Who's to say he's even gay? Or attractive, I mean, we can't see his face or anything!"

"Aren't all male cheerleaders gay?"

"…No, I don't think so."

"I think they are," Claire butted in. "Plus, he's a Cheerio – that's what this team is called, David – so he's probably very… flexible. And in good shape."

"Should I be worried?" David asked her, glancing between his girlfriend and the boy in the cheerleading uniform.

"About me? No. About Blaine?" Blaine, figuring she might have a point, was studying the other boy's frame with perhaps a little too much interest. "See?"

As a black girl (also in a cheerleading uniform, but not in a skirt like all the other girls) entered the gym, the boy turned towards the girl next to him, and Blaine decided that he had nice facial features. No need to go all crazy now.

"This is _so_ not like spying on Vocal Adrenaline," David muttered as the girl started to speak, and Wes leaned over Louise and Claire (who were listening intently to the girl's speech about popularity and such things) to reply.

"Speaking of Vocal Adrenaline… isn't that Jesse St James over there?"

"Jesse St James? What's he doing here?"

"How am I supposed to know? Look, over there… with that girl."

"Yeah, I think it's him… you're right, what _is_ he doing here? Shouldn't he be preparing for Regionals or something, with Vocal Adrenaline?"

Blaine followed his friends' gaze and sure enough – there was their main rivals' lead singer, sitting on the floor with a girl who was probably his girlfriend. And he stuck up his hand in the air when the girl in the cheerleading uniform started naming all sorts of insecurities and Blaine had to admit that he was surprised. He'd thought that the guy was far too self-centred and arrogant to even have insecurities. All the same, Blaine figured he might as well raise his arm too, because some of the things the girl was saying definitely applied to him, scary as that might be.

"I thought this was a pep rally," David whispered to Claire, but she just kept watching the girl behind the microphone and wordlessly put her hand over his mouth. Blaine had to agree with his friend, though, if only just a little. Sure, the speech was very inspiring but there wasn't much pep here.

As the girl began to sing, Louise cursed under her breath (but still loud enough for Blaine, who was sitting three seats away, to hear it). "Damn it. They've got _vocals_ now? That's it, we're done for."

Blaine didn't point out the obvious (namely, that _they_ could still add vocals to their performance too) in favour of just watching and listening. The girl had a great voice, and the song was sung, well, beautifully.

Though he had to admit, he was extremely confused (and, alright, a little disappointed as well) that when the entire group of cheerleaders turned around, only the boy did not do so. That was also the moment that pretty much everyone in the audience got up and moved along to the music. Some kids walked towards the floor to sing and dance along (or just stand there); among them, Jesse St James, and, perhaps even stranger, a pregnant looking teenage girl.

Claire gasped. "Oh my God. Lou – is that – "

"That's Quinn Fabray," Louise confirmed, staring too, a little disapprovingly. To the boys, she explained, "She was the captain of the Cheerios last year. Looks like that didn't do her much good."

While the girls whispered on and on about the fall from grace this Quinn girl had obviously gone through by getting knocked up at age sixteen, Blaine smiled as he noticed that _finally_ the boy had turned around and that, yes, indeed, he had _very_ nice facial features. When the song was done and everyone applauded the performance, the boy hugged the girl who had just been singing and no, Blaine wasn't going to acknowledge the stinging feeling in his belly because what right did he have? He didn't even know the boy, and even if he did, this feeling wouldn't make sense.

As everyone left the gym, their group of five followed suit, but apparently, not quickly enough.

"Well, if it isn't the Dalton boys snooping around again." Blaine, Wes and David whipped around to find the one and only Jesse St James in front of them, smirking. His girlfriend was still standing with the other kids who'd joined the cheerleaders on the floor. "I thought Vocal Adrenaline effectively beat you at Sectionals and set your status for this season to inactive. To what does New Directions owe this pleasure?"

"New Directions?" Blaine had never heard that name before, but by the looks of it, Wes and David had.

"This is their school?" David asked, looking around, as if expecting to see some more… advertising for whatever New Directions was.

"It's a Glee club," Wes muttered at Blaine. "They're new, but they already won their Sectionals this year."

"Yep," Jesse replied, his smirk not leaving his face, making Blaine wonder if it was simply a permanent expression on his face. "This is our school. What, did you think that it was just a random group of people singing the song at the end?"

"Wait – you're in New Directions now?" Wes asked, completely taken by surprise. "What happened to Vocal Adrenaline?"

"New Directions will give me a better shot at winning Regionals and advancing to Nationals this year," Jesse responded. "Plus, now at least I can be with my girlfriend."

Okay, that was sort of a weird reason to transfer, but Blaine decided not to question it. "Yeah," he replied, "fascinating. Anyway, we should go." He glanced towards the doorway, where Louise and Claire were already standing.

"You still didn't tell me what you're doing here if you're not spying," Jesse reminded them, and David snorted.

"We don't have to explain anything to you, St James," he told the other boy. "Besides – we never said we weren't here to spy."

With that, he almost pushed Wes and Blaine out of the gym, and out of the school. "Stop pushing me already!" Wes almost whined, and the girls snickered. Wes just looked wounded. "Well, ladies, I hope that this was worth all the pain we had to go through here," he told them.

"I guess," Claire said with a non-committal shrug. "Now let's go. We have a study group at seven and we expect dinner from you first."

Blaine groaned. Wes and David _so_ owed him right now.

* * *

**A/N**: So... what do you think? :S If you have any thoughts/questions/comments about this (or, of course, if you have more ideas for AU meetings), let me know, please review!


	5. Special education

**A/N**: Well... I must say, I'm a little happier with this chapter than with the last, so hopefully you'll like it too :) This chapter deals with something I've always had some trouble with, namely the fact that when transferring to Dalton, Kurt immediately joined the Warblers. I mean, it was less than a week before Sectionals (even though they made it seem like longer - I mean, I also can't imagine the Warblers holding auditions for a solo at Sectionals only days before the competition, and they did so anyway)! So, yeah - here, Kurt never spied on the Warblers, but the bullying did get bad enough for him to transfer when he did. But he hasn't joined the Warblers just yet :P

Hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom! :)

* * *

Blaine blinked. He looked away, and then back again. The boy was still there.

Frowning, Blaine turned towards his team mates to see if they noticed the boy as well, but they weren't even looking at him. Then, he figured that only a few Warblers would recognise him anyway.

There was a boy standing with a group of people that looked about to perform – well, after the Hipsters, Blaine assumed, and the Warblers, that was. They had to be New Directions. But that boy… he was being hugged and chattered to and high-fived and fist-bumped and whatnot, while another guy (a very, very tall one) just looked on with a wide grin on his face.

Blaine was sure that this in itself wasn't too unusual, if it wasn't for the fact that he was _sure_ that this boy had been in _his_ classes this whole week. Not at whatever school New Directions was from, no, at Dalton. And there he was, acting as if he was part of some other group.

Not that he was a Warbler, because then, Blaine would at least know his name. He was all for welcoming new students to the school, and would definitely have tried to talk to the boy at least some time during the week if it hadn't been for this – Sectionals. He'd been so busy that he hadn't had any time left to spend with the new kid.

He wasn't sure if said new kid would've appreciated that, but still.

New kid wasn't a boarder, he knew that as well – he was never at breakfast or dinner, and Blaine had seen him rush out to the parking lot last Wednesday after their final class. During lunch, he sat alone and never tried to talk to anyone. In fact, Blaine felt like he tried to avoid everyone the best he could.

Oh God. What if he was a spy?

Blaine's blood ran cold as he stared at the new Dalton student in horror. New Directions probably knew exactly what the Warblers were going to do and they were going to use it against them and –

"Blaine? Are you coming? We're all checked in now, let's go to our green room."

Wes interrupted his train of thought and Blaine trudged after his team mates, glancing at the new boy one last time. He looked happy and carefree, which was just about as far from how he seemed at Dalton as was humanly possible.

"Blaine? Are you okay?" David looked at him with a concerned look on his face, and Blaine nodded quickly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied. "Just a little nervous."

David smiled at him. "You'll be great, we know you will. Otherwise we wouldn't have picked you to sing lead, right?"

That was true. Blaine decided not to mention his shocking discovery to his friends – they might not appreciate that very much.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Blaine didn't think about the potential spy anymore until it was the Warblers' turn to perform. The boy wasn't wearing his Dalton uniform (which might've been a good idea, as someone was sure to have mistaken him for a Warbler if he was), but somehow, Blaine still found him immediately. He was sitting a row up from the New Directions kids, next to what seemed to be the director of the other group.

Briefly closing his eyes, Blaine forced himself to snap out of this. Now, he had to perform. He had to sing. He could worry about the new kid later.

As he sang, he was surprised to find the boy smiling widely and moving to the beat in his chair. Glancing around, Blaine concluded that none of the other people in the audience reacted that way. And when they were done, the boy – and after him, the New Directions students, and _then_, the rest of the audience – jumped up, clapping – so in the end, they even got a standing ovation. Blaine didn't think this had happened before during a competition. Not to the Warblers.

Almost immediately after the Warblers, New Directions went on, and the Warblers sat in the seats previously preoccupied by their rival group. It totally wasn't Blaine's fault that he was sitting directly in front of the boy and the director – it really wasn't. He had just stalled a little too long and hey, all the other seats were already occupied. Not his fault at all.

"Are they going to come in through the back again?" the boy asked the director, and Blaine assumed that the man must've nodded, as the boy continued, "Isn't that trick getting old, Mr Schue? I mean, we did that for Sectionals _and_ Regionals last year…"

_We_. So the boy had been part of New Directions at some point. And apparently, the transfer back hadn't been handled quickly enough for him to go on stage with his old team now. Blaine smirked slightly to himself, but then, music started to play, and, true to what he'd just heard, two students, a boy and a girl, came in through the back. Blaine thought it was a good move – except, of course, if the group had done the same thing twice before. Then it was just repetitive.

Still, the group was good. They had good vocals and some great dance moves – it seemed like the Warblers weren't going to win this as easily as they'd originally thought they would. Like the rest of the audience, he got up to clap for the group when they were done, and then – they had to wait for the judges to make up their minds.

The atmosphere in the green room was strange. On one hand, Wes was trying to cheer up everybody by telling them that they were _much_ better than the other two groups, and that it was more than obvious that they were going to win. On the other hand, half of the group was lamenting their loss before the judges' decision had even been made.

Soon, Blaine was fed up with this. The results probably weren't going to be in for at least ten to fifteen minutes, so he decided to go for a walk. Nobody even noticed that he left.

At first, he didn't know where he was going, but when he ended up in the cafeteria of the hotel where Sectionals was taking place this year, he figured he might as well get himself something to drink.

He had barely sat down when someone sat down next to him and greeted him with a cheery, "Hey!" He glanced to his left and found, to his surprise, the new Dalton student (a.k.a. the spy) smiling at him. So much for him being shy and introvert, it seemed. When he smiled back hesitantly, the boy asked, "You're Blaine, right? The lead singer of the Warblers?" Before Blaine could reply, the boy continued. "Stupid question, I know, I just saw you perform, but…"

"Yeah, that's me," Blaine replied. "And you're… the new kid, right?"

"Guilty as charged," the boy said, still smiling. "I'm Kurt."

Blaine merely nodded at this. Normally, he would try to be the well-mannered gentleman he liked to think he was, but he wasn't in the mood for playing games right now. "Any idea for how long you're going to stick around, Kurt?" he asked, perhaps a little more aggressively than he intended. "Now that the competition is over soon, I bet you can't wait to transfer back to your old school."

The other boy looked baffled for a second. "What?" he asked incredulously. "What makes you think I'm going back to McKinley? I just escaped that place!"

"You're a spy, aren't you?" Blaine continued, ignoring Kurt's last comment. "Just admit it. It's not like we'll be seeing each other again soon."

"I'm not a spy," Kurt protested. "If I was, don't you think I would've tried to join the Warblers or something? Or maybe transferred a little earlier than a week before Sectionals?"

"Maybe that's all part of your master plan," Blaine said with a shrug. His parents, as well as his friends, would be shocked to see such behaviour from him, but he couldn't care less at the moment. "I noticed you hanging around those New Directions kids the whole time. I heard you refer to the group as 'we'. I saw you never talk to anyone at Dalton this whole week."

Kurt took a few deep breaths before replying. "Okay, not that it's any of your business, but of course I was standing with them, they're my friends! That doesn't mean that I'm telling them all your secrets. Not that I even _know_ any of those secrets, by the way. Of course I referred to the group as we – I was part of it until about a week ago! And in case you don't know, which you probably don't – the workload at Dalton is much heavier than that at a public school. I didn't talk to people much because I needed to pay attention and catch up. Plus, if I'd gone around, asking everyone about the Warblers – don't you think that would've been incredibly suspicious?"

Well. Blaine hadn't thought about it like that. "What did you mean by escape?" he asked in a small voice.

Kurt let out a hollow laugh. "Let's just say most kids at my old school weren't all that nice to me." As if in an afterthought, he added sheepishly, "Maybe that's why I haven't really talked to anyone yet. I guess I was afraid that I'd be treated the same way at Dalton."

"There's an anti-bullying policy at Dalton," Blaine pointed out, even though Kurt probably already knew that. If he wasn't a spy, he had to be at Dalton for another good reason. "And I get it. I needed time to open up too, at first." At Kurt's questioning gaze, he elaborated, "The students in my middle school didn't exactly like me a lot, so when it was time to choose a high school, my parents sent me to Dalton."

That was all. Neither of them asked for anymore details, unsure if they could do that already. They sat in a not necessarily awkward silence for a while before Blaine spoke again.

"Look, Kurt – I'm sorry for assuming that you were just at Dalton to spy. I get – that it doesn't make much sense. It's expensive to enrol there, and all that money, just for a heads-up in the competition? That was stupid."

Kurt shrugged. "It's alright. I understand that it may have looked suspicious, me acting all chummy with your competition, but – I had barely seen them all week, which is a lot, after spending so much time with them in the past year."

Only then did Blaine remember how they had even ended up in this conversation. "Was there something you wanted to ask me?" he asked, watching the other boy smile a bit.

"As a matter of fact, there was. I don't know much about the procedures at Dalton, or in the Warblers, but do you think I could possibly audition for the Warblers some time? If that's only once a year, I'll just wait until then, but – I was just wondering."

"You want to audition for the Warblers?" Blaine was caught off guard for a moment. "Seriously?"

Kurt nodded. "Yeah, why not? I was in my old school's Glee club, as you'd already figured out, and I like singing. The only reason why I didn't approach you or anyone else about this before was that Sectionals was so close." He frowned for a split second and then said, "You see, at McKinley… the Glee club isn't what you'd call popular. In fact, it's not popular at all, not like the Warblers are at Dalton. It was _so_ hard for us to get enough people to join to be able to compete last year, and when one of our members transferred at the start of the year, we had a really hard time, again, to find a replacement. You probably noticed that there were only twelve people on stage – that's the most we can get. So me transferring a week before Sectionals… that could have been the final blow for them, but they _did_ find a new member, somehow. I didn't want to… betray them twice not only by leaving them so close to the competition, but also by joining one of the rivals clubs."

Blaine was silent for a moment. He had never heard of a school where the Glee club wasn't at least remotely popular. "That makes sense," he finally managed to croak out. "I'm sorry you had to leave so close to Sectionals."

"Not your fault," Kurt muttered. "Anyway, I figured I'd ask now, instead of after the judges announce the winning group – it wouldn't seem sincere."

Blaine nodded, fully agreeing. "I'll ask," he promised. "We don't usually hold auditions in the middle of a year, but nobody ever wants to join in the middle of the year. But since you have some experience singing in a show choir, I don't see why you couldn't join."

Kurt beamed at him, and Blaine wondered – no, never mind. "Thanks, Blaine," he said. "That would be great."

"Are you going to talk to people now?" Blaine asked, more joking than serious.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I suppose I'll have to, won't I?"

"Just – " Blaine started. "What _are_ you, exactly?" When Kurt stared at him as if he'd gone mad, he explained, "When singing, I mean. What's your range?"

"Oh," Kurt said, seeming a little embarrassed for not catching on. "I'm actually a countertenor. But my voice can go very low as well."

Blaine grinned at this. "A countertenor, huh? I don't think I'm supposed to tell you this, but we haven't had one of those in ages, from what I hear, so I don't think anyone's going be opposed to you joining the club."

Now, Kurt grinned as well. "Awesome. But – hey, shouldn't you go back to your green room? I think the judges – "

At that moment, Wes appeared behind them. "Blaine, come on. We're going to be late, the winners will be announced soon! You can flirt later."

Flirt? Blaine didn't think that accusing someone of being a spy and then discussing the possibility to join the Warblers a few months into the school year constituted as flirting, but Wes had always been a little weird.

* * *

**A/N**: So, did you like it? Hate it? Anything else? Let me know, please review!

(edit October 19th: there's now a sequel to this chapter :) It's called _Auditioning_ (I know, I'm not inspired enough to come up with a better title now), and you can find it on my page.)


	6. Laryngitis

**A/N**: This is the shortest chapter yet, _and_ there is no real meeting in here between Kurt and Blaine, but I hope you'll like it anyway :) It's set in 'Laryngitis'. I'm not exactly sure for how long Kurt dated Brittany in that episode, but I went with a little over a week here - probably too long, but it was the only way to make it work.  
Also, a few people have asked for possible sequels to some of these one-shots - if I actually get around writing one or more of those, they'll be posted as separate stories, but I'll tell you in an author's note for whatever chapter I'm posting next that there's a companion piece for this or that chapter up, for the people interested :)

***spoiler alert(?)*** NoN? I actually sort of liked it. It was a nice episode, in my opinion, but I didn't get particularly inspired. Sure, I've got a couple of vague ideas in my head now, but to say I just had to write something? No, not really. And _Somewhere only we know_? From what I can see and hear, I love it :) Can't wait for the episode.

Anyway - onto the chapter! :P Hopefully you'll like it, and please leave a review at the bottom! :)

* * *

Was that boy checking him out? Blaine couldn't be sure, but if it was true, he didn't mind at all. There weren't too many gay guys in Ohio anyway, and this one was reasonably cute (even if his clothing choice was… interesting, to put it nicely), so he could count himself lucky that he'd opted to go for a coffee in _Lima_ today. It wasn't too far from where his parents lived, so he had been here before – just not that often.

The other boy probably thought that Blaine was blind or something – he wasn't exactly smooth, no, he was staring at Blaine rather openly, cocking his head to the side some more at times (for a better view? Blaine almost snorted at the thought).

Blaine just decided to confront him as soon as he had his coffee; who knew what would come from it, right? At that exact moment, however, the boy caught him staring back, and he looked away immediately. A blush formed on his face as he now studied the table instead. Blaine grinned, barely able to wait for the people in front of him to make their decisions – had they honestly not given that any thought until now?

When it was finally his turn, he ordered quickly, and as his coffee was being made, he glanced back at the boy – who was now staring outside with a thoughtful expression on his face. As Blaine watched, a pretty blond girl – in a cheerleading uniform, no less – suddenly sat down next to the boy, and kissed him happily – not on the cheek, but full on the mouth.

Oh, _wow_. It seemed that Blaine had _severely_ misinterpreted the situation. Here he was, thinking that a random guy was checking him out, while said guy was actually just waiting for his _girlfriend_ to come back from the bathroom.

Why did he always fall for straight guys anyway? No, he told himself – maybe this guy was bi. _Or_ maybe that was just Blaine's wishful thinking.

The girl chatted animatedly with the boy, who sometimes said something in reply, and they seemed to be having a really good time together. Blaine almost felt jealous – why couldn't he have something like that?

He was pulled out of his thoughts when the barista placed his coffee in front of him, and suddenly, he regretted not asking for a to go coffee. Sure, he had ordered it with the intention to go and sit with the now obviously taken (by a _girl_!) boy, but what should he do now?

In the end, he sat down anyway, as far away from the happy couple as possible – it was just too bad that that happened to be the table right next to them. Talk about bad luck.

" – and maybe we could go to your house after and make out?" the girl suggested, and Blaine felt a bit sick in the stomach. As he looked up, though, he thought he saw the boyfriend's eyes widen in panic.

Gah, he really needed to stop this wishful thinking. The boy was probably just excited to be able to shove his tongue down his girlfriend's throat (and possibly even more) in private.

He purposefully didn't look at them from then on, but after a while, he noticed that it had gone rather silent next to him all of a sudden, and indeed – the two were gone. Good. At least he didn't have to see (or hear) them be all couple-y – something he knew he would never be able to do, even if he would miraculously ever find himself a boyfriend. Not in Ohio.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Blaine honestly didn't know what possessed him to go back to that coffee shop a week later, but here he was. He was just stirring his coffee mindlessly when he heard a very familiar voice – true enough, the blond girl from the week before skipped in, though she wasn't wearing her cheerleaders outfit now. She was chattering to the boy next to her and woah – Blaine jolted awake as he realised that it was the same guy as last week, but… what had happened to his clothes? That was a rather drastic change.

The previous week, he'd looked like an all-American lumberjack type of guy, and now… he looked like he'd just stepped off of some runway in New York or Paris or wherever.

Not that Blaine minded.

After getting their coffees, the two sat down at the table next to Blaine's (he was really starting to get a big déjà vu moment here) and instead of insanely happy, the girl looked… sad.

"Don't you like me anymore, Kurtie?" she asked, and Blaine brought his hand to his mouth to keep himself from laughing. "Because that's alright – most of my boyfriends don't _really_ like me."

"Of course I still like you, Britt," the boy replied, and now that Blaine looked closer, he noticed that he mostly seemed very uncomfortable. "I just – don't want to be your boyfriend anymore."

"Is it because I asked you to kiss my armpits?" the girl asked with a small pout. "Most guys like that…"

"No, Britt, it's not about your armpits," the boy said, sighing. "It's not you – it's me."

The girl nodded earnestly. "You're wearing your old clothes again," she observed. "Does that mean your capital-G gay again? Is that why you didn't want to have sex with me?"

The boy choked on his coffee, and Blaine smirked to himself. Gay, huh? So he _had_ been checking out Blaine the previous week after all…

"Yes, Brittany, that's exactly why I didn't – and still don't – want to have sex with you," he responded once he had recovered.

The girl, Brittany, sighed sadly. "You're a really great boyfriend, though."

"Thanks, boo," the boy said with an affectionate smile. "You're a really great girlfriend too, all things considered."

Brittany didn't appear to understand him completely, but after a few seconds, she smiled anyway. "Can we still see that movie we were going to go to, even if you don't want to be my boyfriend anymore?" she asked happily, and the boy smiled again.

"Of course we can. But remember – no cuddling, or kissing, or touching in inappropriate place… or any touching at all, really."

"Okay," Brittany said, a sincerely happy grin plastered to her face.

"Okay?" the boy asked, apparently not too sure about the situation yet. "That's it? You're not mad at me or anything for breaking up with you?"

The girl shook her head, confused. "No, why would I be mad? You're capital-G gay, right?" The boy nodded hesitantly, glancing around the room for any eavesdroppers – Blaine quickly looked down at his table, much like the other boy had done the week before. "That's fine. Besides – I still have my perfect record now."

The boy shook his head at her, smiling fondly. "Thanks, Britt."

Either she didn't hear him or she just ignored him, as she grabbed his hand. "Well, come on! We can't be late!"

The boy obediently followed her out of the cafeteria while Blaine pondered what had just taken place right in front of him. His parents were probably going to wonder why he was coming home so often all of a sudden, but he knew he had to be here next week as well – and hope that even without a girlfriend, the boy would visit this place.

* * *

**A/N**: So... what do you think? Was it good, bad, anything else? Let me know if you have any thoughts/questions/comments about the chapter/story (or if you have any chapter ideas, those are always welcome as well) - please review! :D


	7. Grilled Cheesus

**A/N**: Well... this chapter is longer than the last one and there's interaction between the boys - though not necessarily romantic interaction. Not exactly. Hopefully you'll still like it :) (because at least Blaine gives better advice here than in NBK, in my opinion :P) I have to admit, I know virtually nothing about heart attacks, so if there's anything here that doesn't seem right, don't hesitate to point it out. Also, I have nothing against religious people at all. Opinions expressed by characters in this chapter (well, in this entire fic, really) aren't necessarily mine as well.  
... I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out. After chapter 2, I was on a writing spree and wrote five chapters - of which this is the last one. So, I can't guarantee anything.

***spoilers*** BTW. It was nice, but, again, not incredibly inspirational (though maybe it's not the episodes, but me). There is a lot I could comment on, but I fear that this note would get longer than the chapter. But - I was actually pleasantly surprised by Karofsky at some points, which was nice; and while SOWK was sweet and cute in every way - the scene around it was a bit strange (I mean, the Warblers come, Blaine speaks, they sing, they hug Kurt, and they leave. That's all. Which I think is quite odd.). (_And the promo for next week? xD)_

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and _please_ review at the bottom :)

* * *

If there was one thing Blaine dreaded every time he went home to his parents, it was the possibility that relatives, close or distant ones, were visiting as well. His mother's relatives weren't usually a problem, for they at least accepted the fact that he did not like girls – he suspected that they _might_ have a problem with it if he ever got a boyfriend and introduced him to his family, but as long as that wasn't the case, his mother's relatives were pleasant enough.

His father's were a different story altogether. Just like his father, they weren't happy about him being gay at all. His father, though, had stopped trying to change him by now and generally just kept quiet whenever the subject was (inevitably) brought up. But his family expressed their disappointment and their disapproval of Blaine in every possible way, whenever they could, and as loudly as possible.

This time, however, there were no relatives at Blaine's parents' house when he came home for the weekend, which was quite a relief. They really had a knack for being there when he visited his parents normally (which wasn't even all that often) so a relatives-free weekend was welcomed by Blaine with open arms.

He spoke too soon, of course.

"Isn't dad coming home?" he asked his mother during dinner on Friday night. He knew that his father – and his mother, for that matter – was usually too busy to be home for dinner, but Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays were different.

"He's with your grandfather in the hospital," his mother replied in between bites. "He was admitted earlier today, and I'm not sure what's wrong with him, but he appears to be alright now."

Blaine simply nodded. "How long will he have to stay there?" he asked, more out of obligation than out of real interest.

"I don't know," his mother merely said, and with that, the subject was dropped and the two of them continued their meal in silence.

Later that evening, Blaine's father came home, looking more worried than he should if everything was alright. Seeing the questioning glances of his wife and son (who had, once again because he felt obliged to do so, come downstairs from his room), he informed them, "They're going to run some more tests on him. Of course, heart attacks aren't _extremely_ uncommon nowadays, but since he's getting a little older, they want to keep him in the hospital for a few more days."

Again, Blaine just nodded, while his mother stepped forward to squeeze her husband's arm. Blaine figured that it was probably because of him that their relationship was like this; he couldn't count the number of times his parents had fought over the fact that his father's family couldn't seem to accept that Blaine was gay, and not just another rebellious teenager.

As he walked back to his room, his father called after him, "Blaine, go visit him tomorrow. It'll be good for him."

Blaine sighed, but didn't protest. It wouldn't help anyway. "Which hospital?" he asked.

"In Lima," his father replied.

This was not how Blaine wanted to spend his weekend, but what could he do?

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The next day, Blaine did some homework first, watched some tv, surfed the internet – anything but going to the hospital. Around three in the afternoon, though, he gathered all his willpower (and some courage here and there) and drove down to the hospital his grandfather was in.

After asking for directions, he walked towards his grandfather's room in a slower pace than was normal for him. _Man up, Anderson_, he scolded himself internally, _it's just your family. Nothing to be afraid of_.

Yeah, right.

Arriving at the room, he knocked the door tentatively even though it was open already. Unfortunately for him, his grandfather wasn't asleep or away for tests – he was wide awake. And he wasn't alone. It was as if half the family was there, and they were all staring at Blaine with narrowed eyes.

"What are you doing here, boy?" the nearest uncle sneered at him.

Blaine felt himself shrink a few inches. "I came to visit – " he started, but he was cut off by the same uncle.

"Well, he doesn't want you here, and neither do we. You're probably just here to enjoy the show, aren't you? You just want to flaunt your gayness around everywhere you go. Get out, boy. Don't even think of coming back. You'll only make it worse."

Blaine didn't need to be told twice – he was already halfway out of the door before his uncle had stopped speaking. It wasn't as if he hadn't heard those words (or worse ones) before, but that didn't make it okay. The hateful faces of the rest of the family in the room didn't help either.

The music must've been there when he first walked into this particular corridor, but he heard it only now. Someone was singing in a nearby room. Curiously, Blaine turned around the corner.

The door to the room was wide open, but Blaine didn't feel like prying – after all, it didn't sound like the person lying in that room had been as lucky as Blaine's grandfather. It must be hard for the family.

When the girl finished singing, a boy Blaine hadn't noticed standing outside the door walked into the room. After the boy asked the occupants of the room what was going on, a few quieter voices answered the question, and there was some murmur inside. Then, a woman who turned out to be Sikh (after Blaine heard something about praying in Muslim, but he couldn't be too sure), passed Blaine in the hallway and entered the room. A few moments later, three girls, a tall boy, and a woman left, all looking worried.

They didn't seem to notice Blaine standing there as they all passed him, and he contemplated leaving as well – there was nothing left for him here, was there? Before he could make up his mind, though, the boy he hadn't noticed before exited the room too and sagged down in a nearby chair.

Blaine stared at him, not really knowing what to do now. If he left, the boy would surely hear his footsteps, and it would probably make him seem like a jerk. But he didn't know what to say to this boy he didn't even know. _Are you okay?_ Well, that obviously wasn't the case. _Keep faith?_ That didn't seem right either.

"Hey," he ultimately said softly, approaching the boy. He sat down carefully, not too close, but not too far away either. The boy wasn't looking at him, but Blaine couldn't say he hadn't expected that. After hesitating for a few seconds, he tentatively placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. Feeling him tense up immediately, Blaine muttered, "It's okay. It'll be fine." Which was a stupid thing to say as well, he realised that. After all, who was he to say that?

The boy seemed the be thinking along the same lines. "How would you know?" he snapped, but in a tone that suggested that his heart wasn't in it.

Blaine sighed. "I don't. But you just – have to keep believing that it'll be okay."

"There's not much else I can do, right?" the boy replied, still staring at the room. "Gosh, you know that was something I actually expected my Glee club teacher to tell me? To not stop believing?"

Blaine just smiled hesitantly. _Glee club teacher?_ Well, this didn't seem like the appropriate time to talk about that.

"And what do you propose I believe in?" the boy asked him, his tone suggesting that he was ready to shoot down any possible answer Blaine was going to give. "Because if you're going to tell me I should believe in _God_ – well, don't even bother. My friends keep telling me that all day long but I just _don't_ believe that there is such a thing as _God_."

Blaine shrugged. "That's okay. Everyone can believe whatever they want, right? We live in a free country, after all. Just believe in – if you don't mind me asking – who's in the room?"

"My dad," the boy whispered, barely audible. "He had a heart attack a few days ago, and he's been in a coma ever since." He turned away from the room slightly, towards Blaine.

"I'm sorry," Blaine muttered, subconsciously grabbing one of the boy's hands. Even though Blaine himself didn't really get along with his own father, he couldn't imagine what it must be like to possibly lose him. "I can't imagine how hard that must be." The boy didn't react, so Blaine continued. "Anyway, what I was saying… just believe in… him. Believe in your dad, that he has the strength to survive this. That he's… going to make it out of here and you'll – you'll both be fine."

Almost unnoticeably, the boy nodded. "Thanks." He took a deep breath and said, "I know – I should have faith in him, but… it's so hard sometimes, you know? He's – all I have left. And my friends – " He snorted. "I suppose they mean well, but – they keep telling me that I should just believe in God and everything will be fine. My dad will miraculously get better because I start _praying_."

Blaine opened his mouth, and then closed it, before opening it again. "Look – I would be lying if I said that I knew what to do or say right now, but you're right, your friends probably mean well. They try to console you in a way they know consoles them, but it's completely understandable if you don't want that. Nobody can force you to believe something you don't."

"What about you?" the boy asked softly, glancing from the room to Blaine and back. "Do you believe in a God?"

Blaine suspected that the boy might not like his answer very much. "I'm not extremely religious," he started, searching for the right words as he went, "but I do like to think that there is some sort of God up there."

The boy nodded. "At least you're not trying to convert me or anything…"

Blaine patted his back somewhat awkwardly. "That seems like the last thing you need right now." They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Blaine asked, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but – if your dad's here…"

"She died nine years ago," the boy replied to Blaine's unfinished question. He seemed not to notice it himself, but he was clutching Blaine's hand a little tighter now. Blaine sort of expected the boy to burst into tears any second now (he was actually surprised that he hadn't already, but by the looks of him, the boy had cried more than enough already these past few days), but instead, he just smiled wryly. "I don't see why I should believe in a God – even if he exists, he's put me through enough crap to not believe in him anymore. He took away my mum, and may be about to take away my dad. And on top of that, he also seems to have such a wretched sense of humour that he thought it would be funny to make me gay and then have his followers tell me that it's wrong and unnatural, and something I chose to be."

Well, Blaine could certainly relate to that last part.

"How come you're still here?" the boy asked him suddenly, looking at him as if he didn't understand that at all. "I mean, I doubt you're going to McKinley, but… even so, most guys – most _people_ aren't particularly comfortable around, well, people like me." The boy took a deep breath, during which he glanced at his father's room again, and continued, "So who are you, exactly? What even brought you here?"

Blaine smiled softly. "That's a whole lot of questions you're asking me at once," he commented. "You're right – I don't go to school around here. I attend a boarding school in Westerville, but my parents sent me here now to visit my grandfather. He… had a heart attack too, apparently, though he's fine – I think. But my dad's family isn't all that happy with me. They think I'm nothing but a disgrace to the family name because I'm gay."

And no, Blaine didn't go around telling random strangers about that, but this boy was different – he was the first person Blaine had ever met who had not been afraid to tell someone he didn't know at all this fact about himself. Yes, he was going through a rough time now, and it might have just slipped out, but at the same time – he was now more vulnerable than ever, and it was a sign of strength, Blaine thought, that he could tell Blaine this about himself even now.

The boy stared at him in wonder for a few seconds, as if not completely comprehending what had just happened. "I'm sorry about your family," he muttered in the end, now squeezing Blaine's hand in return.

"It's fine," Blaine replied with a shrug and a tiny smile. "Besides, I think my family troubles aren't quite as big as yours, so…"

The other boy bit his lip slightly and turned around in his seat, causing Blaine's hand to fall off of his shoulder in the process. "It's good to get my mind off of things sometimes," he stated. "At least, I think it is. Not for a very long time, but… enough not to be thinking about what's going on here all the time."

"What exactly _is_ going on in that room now?" Blaine asked, unable to resist his curiosity.

"She's trying acupuncture on him," the boy replied.

"And the hospital staff is fine with that?"

The boy shrugged. "I don't know. But I'd feel so helpless otherwise – if it could help, why shouldn't I try it? Who knows what good it'll do."

Blaine couldn't help himself; he chuckled for a moment. This boy's independence and lack of care for what everyone thought about him was refreshing. Of course, Blaine realised that the independence probably had to do with his mum's death.

"Didn't you want to stay with him?" he asked instead, and the boy shrugged a little helplessly.

"It probably wouldn't help her concentrate on what she's doing if I was sitting there now and kept questioning every move she made and every needle she put in." A pause. "Why did you sit with me?"

Blaine had to take a moment before he could respond. After all, there had been no real logical reason behind this arrangement. "You looked like you might want to talk – or something – to someone." He grimaced. "Then again, maybe I did too." The boy squeezed his hand again. "I'm Blaine, by the way."

The boy smiled a little bit. "I'm Kurt. And thank you. For sitting with me, I mean. I guess I did need to… rant to someone. My friends are great and all, but… really, they can't seem to understand that I don't want to turn to religion to make me feel better. I just – I just want my dad to get better."

Blaine placed his hand on Kurt's shoulder again. "It's absolutely no problem. Hey, tell you what – I'll give you my number, and you can call me anytime, okay? Whether it is just to talk, or to rant, or anything else, just let me know."

Kurt gave him a hesitant smile. "I guess that would be nice. But only if I can give you my number as well, and you call me whenever you need to as well."

"I suppose I can live with that," Blaine replied, fishing his phone out of his pocket and holding it out for Kurt, who was rummaging through his bag. At that moment, the Sikh woman came out of the room, and Blaine nudged Kurt, who beckoned her over.

"Did it work?" Kurt asked somewhat desperately, and Blaine's heart almost broke.

The woman shook her head. "Not yet. But it might take some time before it starts working."

"Can we make another appointment?" Kurt asked, before glancing at Blaine. "I mean," he added hurriedly, "do you have one second?" The woman nodded, and Kurt told Blaine, "I'm sorry. I – "

"I get it," Blaine assured him. "It's fine." He handed Kurt his phone back, and Kurt hurriedly added his own number to Blaine's contact list. "I need to get going anyway."

Kurt nodded worriedly. "I'll let you know if anything changes, or when he wakes up." Blaine noticed that Kurt didn't even seem to doubt the fact that his dad would wake up at all. That was a start.

"I'd like that," he replied. "Take care, Kurt." He gave him an awkward sort of half-hug, which the other boy returned nevertheless.

"Thank you," the other boy said quietly. "Good luck with your relatives."

Blaine smiled at him one last time (for now, at least). "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

Nodding, Kurt waved as they both walked away, but in opposite directions. Blaine made sure to skip past his grandfather's room without being seen, and he wondered what his parents were going to say when he got home. They would never believe that his grandfather had been willing to see him, especially with the rest of the family there as well – but what would they think if he told them that he'd stayed at the hospital for a little while longer to console a boy he'd never met before, and who might lose his father?

Well – he'd figure that out when he got there. For now, he settled for accepting the fact that he was secretly grateful for being sent to the hospital today. Even though Kurt hadn't really been up for it now, it felt good to have someone to talk to about certain things - stuff that at Dalton, he and his friends never talked about.

Maybe this weekend wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

**A/N**: So, what do you think? Somehow, I couldn't figure out what doors led to which corridors (etc.) from Burt's room, and in the end, I did this. Sorry if it doesn't seem right. Anyway - let me know what you think, please leave a review! (or, if you have any chapter ideas, let me know too!)


	8. Pilot

**A/N**: This was a fairly strange chapter to write - and not just because Kurt isn't out yet. It was mostly frustrating because of Carmel and VA - Carmel because it's never stated where it is, exactly (not that I know of, at least). So in this story, it's somewhere in Indiana (I read that somewhere, and it fits in the story). And VA - as far as I know, they were national champions at least three times (as we don't know if they won again in season one), but in the episode this chapter takes place in, they're announced as "…last year's _regional_ champion…" Which is sort of weird if they're actually national champions as well. Not that this really matters for the story, but it's still frustrating :P

So... hopefully this chapter makes sense, hopefully you'll enjoy it, and hopefully, you'll review at the bottom ;)

* * *

Blaine would be lying if he said he wasn't impressed by the way Carmel High School put the spotlight on nothing but their Glee club – Vocal Adrenaline. Sure, Dalton liked to show the Warblers off too, but they weren't the only thing that mattered to the school.

Maybe if this year, the Warblers would at least advance to Regionals (something that hadn't happened in years, thanks to, yes, Vocal Adrenaline), their school would at least feature them more prominently on the front page of their website. That wasn't too much to ask for, right?

Either way, the Warblers had managed to get tickets for Vocal Adrenaline's start-of-the-year showcase to see what they were up against. Blaine had been told that there wasn't much hope for them yet, but maybe next year, once Jesse St James, Andrea Cohen and the other most talented members of the group graduated (that was, if Carmel _let_ them graduate), they might have a shot at beating them.

After sitting down in the auditorium, Blaine looked around. There were a lot of people in suits, but a lot of high school kids as well – probably all from Carmel.

As soon as performance began, Blaine felt his friends at both his sides slump back in their seats. There was no way the Warblers could do something to top _this_. The rest of the audience loved it, though, so Blaine dutifully got up after their competition was done, and applauded for them.

He was one of the few Warblers who did that, so he sat down pretty quickly. There was still a lot he had to learn about being a Warbler, it seemed.

When they arrived back in the main hall, everyone was chatting excitedly about the performance they just witnessed – except for one group. A man and a woman were quietly talking, and five teenagers were huddled together near them

" – we might as well give up now," a dark girl said miserably to her companions.

"I agree, there's no way we can ever beat Vocal Adrenaline," a boy in a wheelchair muttered.

"You're a Glee club as well?" Tom, one of the council members, asked a tall boy who was standing there awkwardly.

"Uh – yeah," he replied, but at that moment, a small brunette came marching up to the group. Blaine noticed the other students roll their eyes, but the girl didn't appear to notice.

"We are the New Directions," she announced, shaking Tom's hand pompously. "From McKinley High in Lima. And… you are?"

"The Warblers," Colin, Tom's best friend and a fellow council member, replied proudly. "We go to Dalton Academy in Westerville. You?"

"I don't remember competing against you last year," Wes told the four other teens in the meantime, and Blaine quickly turned towards them as well.

"We're new," a boy in a rather expensive looking coat informed them.

"R-Really new," an Asian girl added.

"There's only six of you?" Blaine asked, looking around. None of the other people in the hall seemed to be part of this group as well.

"Yeah, why?"

"There have to be twelve of you to compete," David replied, looking (and sounding) apologetic.

"That's it, we're done for," the dark girl said, and she marched off towards the two adults, presumably to tell them what she'd just heard. The Asian girl and the boy in the wheelchair followed suit, but before the other boy could join them, Blaine grabbed him by the sleeve of his coat.

"Wait," he just said as the boy – who actually looked quite young, but Blaine didn't let that bother him; he had to at least be in high school to be here – just frowned at him. "We didn't even get the chance to introduce ourselves. Hi, my name is Blaine, and this – "

"Wes," David introduced himself with a large grin.

Catching on immediately, Wes also shook the boy's hand. "David."

Blaine rolled his eyes at his friends before telling the boy, "Don't mind those idiots."

The boy just looked from Wes to David (or, in his mind, from David to Wes) and shrugged. "I'm Kurt. Nice to meet you, I suppose."

"So you said you're a new club?" Wes asked with interest. "How new, exactly?"

The boy thought for a moment. "I think about a week."

"And you're planning to give up already?" David asked, shocked. "Why? I'm sure you'll get much better over time."

Kurt pulled a face. "Possible. But the whole minimum of twelve members is also going to be a problem."

"How so? Just hold auditions," Blaine suggested with a smile.

After staring at him for a few seconds, Kurt rolled his eyes. "The auditions were last week. Everyone who auditioned got in. Oh, and Finn." With that, he nodded towards where the tall boy was still standing, trapped between the small brunette and the Warblers' council members. "But I think Mr Schuester blackmailed him or something."

"Only five people auditioned?" Blaine was sure David's jaw had almost hit the floor when Kurt was talking, but apparently, his friend was capable of talking now. "How is that possible?"

"Glee club is not cool at our school," Kurt replied, not appearing too put off by this. "Singing and dancing around is considered… well – stupid and… stuff."

There was something he wasn't saying, but Blaine decided not to push the matter, and neither did Wes and David.

"Public school is so weird," David commented, shaking his head. "At Dalton, we're like rock stars."

"Rock stars?" Kurt repeated, looking at David incredulously. "You're kidding."

"It's true," Blaine told him. "Everybody wants to be a Warbler."

"Maybe if we actually manage to get enough members to compete and win Sectionals, we'll be more popular too," Kurt said, though it didn't sound very convincing. He, and the Warblers as well, looked over towards his team mates for a moment. They seemed to be getting ready to head back to whatever town they came from. "I should go," Kurt said. "It was – nice, talking to you guys, and maybe we'll meet again at some or other competition someday."

Blaine grinned and was about to say something when David hissed, "Just do it. Go for it."

"You know you want to," Wes added, and Blaine's eyes widened. Luckily Kurt hadn't heard them. Those two were absolutely ridiculously crazy, but… they were also right.

"Do you maybe want to go out some time?" Blaine therefore asked Kurt with a hopeful smile. He had never done anything like this, but, like Wes and David insinuated, this seemed too good an opportunity not to seize. "Or just – have coffee together, or lunch, or whatever you want?"

For a moment, Kurt stared at him with an unreadable look in his eyes. He carefully looked around at the other people, at his friends, at Wes and David, and finally, he turned back to Blaine. "I'm not – you know," he muttered almost pleadingly.

"Out?" Blaine guessed.

Kurt smiled grimly. "I was going to say 'gay', but I suppose there's more truth in your guess than in mine."

"Right, sorry," Blaine promptly apologised. "We can always go somewhere where you don't know anyone?"

Kurt eyed him disbelievingly, before glancing at Wes and David. "How did you – ?"

"Know?" Wes finished for him. "Blainey here has an excellent gay-dar. One of the perks of being gay, I guess. Still, yours seems to be a bit off."

Instantly, the other boy's head whipped back towards Blaine. "You mean you're… "

"He wouldn't be asking you out if he weren't gay, would he now?" David replied with a grin. Kurt muttered a quick and quiet apology and stared at the floor instead.

"So what do you say?" Wes asked when Blaine didn't make an attempt to continue the conversation. "Give him a chance?"

Blaine smiled in what he hoped a persuasive way, and Kurt hesitantly smiled back. "Sure, I guess." He looked around at his team mates once more. "How do I know this isn't just some sort of joke, though? I don't even know you, for all I know you're just messing with my mind and – "

"No, we wouldn't," Blaine said hastily. "Listen, Kurt – I may not know exactly what the kids at your school are like, but I went to public school for a while as well, and it wasn't fun. We wouldn't do that to anyone. That's just cruel. We're not like that."

"Okay," Kurt said, seeming a little more at ease now. "So where do you suggest we meet up?"

Now, Blaine grinned widely. "How about the Lima Bean in the Westerville Mall? Saturday, around noon?"

"I'll figure out a way to get there," Kurt answered the question Blaine was sure one of his friends was about to ask him. "I mean, I have a car and a licence, and navigation. It shouldn't be much of a problem."

"Great," Blaine said, his grin even wider than before. "I can't wait already."

"You're such a thirteen year old girl, Blaine," Wes complained, but at least Kurt was smiling.

"I'll see you around then," he said. "I should really go now. They're – oh. They must've already gone outside."

This comment made Blaine, Wes and David looked around as well. "Hey," Wes spoke up, "where are the others?" As they followed Kurt outside, they were met by an almost empty parking lot.

"They left," Kurt muttered to himself, looking around frantically. "They just _left_."

"They left you here?" For some reason, this made Blaine angrier than it should, considering he'd met the other boy less than half an hour ago. "Why would your friends do such a thing?"

Kurt shrugged. "They're not really my friends, not yet at least. We barely ever talked up until a week ago, and even then, it probably doesn't mean much."

"We'll give you a ride," David promptly decided. "We drove here ourselves, and Lima isn't that far of a detour for us."

"No, that's alright," Kurt replied quickly. "I can't – I'll just call my dad, he'll pick me up."

"That could take hours, and we're headed towards Ohio anyway," Wes said as he and David linked their arms with Kurt's. "You're coming with us, whether you like it or not. Besides – this way, you can get to know Blaine here a little better before your date next week."

"Ignore them," Blaine told Kurt (again) as they reached David's car. "I know I want to more often than not."

Kurt just shrugged. "It's okay. It must be nice to have such accepting friends."

Right. Blaine wanted to smack himself for being so inconsiderate, but he managed to hold himself back. God knows Kurt would think he was a lunatic if he truly did that. "I'm sure your team mates will accept you as well," he said in the end.

For some reason, Kurt snorted at this. "Yes, Rachel might. I'm not so sure about the others."

"Rachel?" Wes asked, obviously eavesdropping.

"The small brunette with the loud voice," Kurt replied, rolling his eyes. "She's annoying, but she's a good singer. And she has two gay dads, so she would accept me. But I don't really like her."

"Two gay dads? In Ohio?" David mused. "That's not something you hear about very much."

"If all their kids turn out like Rachel Berry, I don't think that's such a waste," Kurt muttered.

Once they were driving, David put on some music. Normally, Blaine would happily sing along, but now, he had other things on his mind – like getting to know the boy sitting beside him in the backseat of David's car.

This proved to be easy enough once Kurt got over the idea that they were maybe actually kidnapping him and going to dump him at the side of the road sooner or later, and for that, Blaine was grateful. He was aware that perhaps, they would both be more open if Wes and David weren't present, but it was a start.

By the time they arrived in Lima, Ohio, Kurt had loosened up quite a bit, and, to be fair, so had Blaine. It was a nice feeling. Far too soon, they reached Kurt's house.

"I'll still see you next weekend?" Blaine asked, just to make sure.

Kurt blinked. "Yeah, of course. Why, did you think I changed my mind?"

"You did get to spend some time with him now," David pointed out, grinning. "We wouldn't have blamed you if you would've backed out of the date, or whatever it is."

"Oh, right," Kurt said, frowning at David a bit. "Well, no, I didn't, so I'll see you then."

"He'll probably bombard you with texts this week, though," Wes warned him. Somewhere during the ride, Wes had somehow pestered Kurt and Blaine into exchanging phone numbers – something that would've undoubtedly happened anyway if next weekend's meeting went well. "Be prepared for that."

"I think I can handle that," Kurt replied, smiling at Blaine. "Thanks for dropping me off, by the way. You really didn't need to do that."

"It's only a polite thing to do after your friends left you there," David told him sternly. "Do us a favour and demand an explanation from them when you see them again, will you?"

Kurt shrugged. "Sure, I was planning on doing that anyway."

At that moment, the front door of the house opened, and a tall man stepped outside, narrowing his eyes at the car. Blaine had to admit, he would never want to get on this man's bad side – he didn't look very friendly, but maybe that was just him. One glance at Wes and David, however, told him that it was _not_ just him.

"Oh, there's my dad," Kurt said suddenly, blinking at the man. "I should go inside. He won't be happy to hear that I was left behind at Carmel's parking lot." With a sigh, he opened the door of the car and hopped out. Instantly, the man's facial expression changed from distrust to shock and confusion. "I'll see you next week, Blaine. Wes, David, thanks for the ride." With that, he walked towards the man, and David drove away.

"Did you ever even tell him that you two didn't state your real names when introducing yourselves?" Blaine wondered out loud as they sped through the streets of Lima.

The two wicked grins he got in reply told him all he needed to know.

* * *

**A/N**: As for why they just left Kurt there - let's just say that they probably thought that he knew Blaine, Wes and David and was going to hang out with them, or something along those lines. And yes, I used the same names for the season 1 council members as in chapter 2, but I don't feel like having to come up with new names every time.

Anyway, what did you think? :) If you have any questions or comments or _prompts_ for chapters or if you just want to let me know what you think - please leave a review! :)


	9. A very Glee Christmas

**A/N**: This chapter was done before chapter 8, but at this point all the odd chapters are episodes from season two, and the even chapters take place in the first season, so... yeah :P Maybe at some point that'll change, but not yet. Just a few things - due to some issues with the site, I couldn't respond to reviews the way I usually do, so I had to use the PM system to do so. However, not everyone can receive PMs, so I couldn't respond to every review, and I'm sorry about that. As soon as the review system is back to normal (if that happens?) I'll reply to the other reviews (so don't let this stop you from reviewing! I really want to know what you think!) :) Something else - this chapter couldn't really be from Blaine's POV, and since I seem to have issues with Kurt's POV (I can't always write it), this is from Finn's POV. I hope that won't be too big of a turn-off for you :P  
And... this is pretty much an AU version of the scene at the Christmas tree stand in AVGC. A scene like this was requested by _Lolasatsuma_, and _CaramelFair_ wanted something from this episode - so I hope this is something like you had it in mind! :) (just for the record - everything pretty much happened the way it did on the show, but Kurt simply never met Blaine or transferred. ND and the Warblers still tied at Sectionals.)

Hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom! :D

* * *

When Rachel had told Finn her plan – buy a new Christmas tree for Glee club – he was initially inclined to agree. That was, until he remembered that she'd cheated on him recently, and he was still angry at her for that.

That was when he told her that yes, there should be a new tree, but no, they weren't going to get one together. He, as the team captain who actually celebrated Christmas, would buy a tree by himself. He was perfectly capable of doing that. And that was exactly what was going to happen, as far as Finn was concerned.

He hadn't counted on the fact that the new house his new family had just moved into didn't have a Christmas tree yet either. When his parents heard that he was going to buy a tree the next day, they told him to bring two trees instead of one. In an afterthought, Burt added that Finn should bring Kurt along to help carry the trees. Finn didn't know if Kurt was going to be that big of a help – he didn't think his stepbrother was all that strong, and Kurt was probably going to be complaining about getting his clothes dirty the entire time.

Still, it was better than going with Rachel and inevitably having to sing some or other sappy song with her. Finn might be slow at times, but after dating Rachel for several months, even he knew that she would grab every opportunity presented to her to sing, wherever she was.

"It's probably their way of getting us to bond," Kurt told him while they drove to one of the Christmas tree stands in Lima (yes, there were a couple of them).

"Yeah, but – dude, can you even help me carry a tree? They're pretty heavy."

Kurt pursed his lips before speaking. "Don't call me 'dude', Finn. And yes, I am very capable of helping you carrying a Christmas tree. I always accompanied my dad when he wanted to buy one and I've helped carrying them ever since he let me. Plus, I'm wearing some of my old clothes now."

Finn didn't see the difference between Kurt's current outfit and the things he normally wore, but he decided that it was for the best to not mention that. Kurt might be the one driving, but that didn't mean that he couldn't inflict some serious pain on Finn.

In the end, he settled for a, "Okay. Cool." They spent the remainder of the drive in silence.

Once Kurt parked the car, Finn jumped out enthusiastically. Rolling his eyes (which Finn pretended not to notice), Kurt followed him.

"Are there people singing?" Finn asked curiously. He could swear –

"Probably not," Kurt cut Finn's thoughts short. "It must be a CD or something. You know, the stuff they always play at these places around this time of the year."

But it wasn't – when they reached the stand, there was a group of around fifteen boys in matching coats and scarves singing Christmas carols.

Finn was about to proudly tell Kurt that he had been right, when Kurt muttered, "What – _what_ are they doing here in Lima?"

"You know them?" Finn asked obliviously, looking from Kurt to the group of boys and back.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "They're the Warblers, Finn."

_Oh_. "They sound pretty good," he observed.

"Rachel's going to kill you when she finds out," Kurt agreed. "For not allowing her to come."

"Let's not tell her then."

"They _are_ good, though. Who'd have thought that a cappella Christmas songs would sound good?"

"Not me," Finn said.

"Rhetorical question, Finn."

"Oh." Not that he knew what that meant, but he'd heard Kurt use the term before, and he knew by now that he was better off not saying anything else.

After another minute of standing there and listening to one of their rival show choirs sing a Christmas song, Kurt said, "Come on. Let's find ourselves a tree."

"Two trees," Finn corrected him.

Kurt didn't even bother answering.

Together, they started walking past the various trees, looking closely as they went. Most of the trees didn't make it through their elaborate check-list, but there were some that both Finn and Kurt approved of. Still, they wanted to see all the trees to make sure they could really bring the best trees back home.

When they passed the group of singing and harmonising boys, they heard the seller of the trees tell them that he would give them a tree for free when they were done. Finn almost felt jealous – he was sure that Dalton probably had about a hundred trees everywhere in the school, while the McKinley budget couldn't even pay for more than a few trees.

Kurt, however, didn't seem to be having the same sort of thoughts. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he told the group (and the seller).

The group of boys looked at them in wonder. "Why not?" one of the background singers asked.

"Receiving payment in any way revokes the amateur status of your Glee club," Kurt said swiftly. "You'll no longer be allowed to compete."

As he walked on, searching for another nice tree or two, the boys stared after him, seeming baffled. Finn shrugged apologetically at them, as if saying, 'What can you do about it?' and then sped up to catch up with his stepbrother.

"Why did you warn them?" he asked Kurt. "They're the competition!"

"They've never done anything to us," Kurt replied, inspecting a nearby tree. "If they were from Vocal Adrenaline, I would've encouraged them to take as many trees as possible and then personally rat them out." He seemed to think for a moment, before saying, "Or I'd just mention it when Rachel was around, and let her rat them out. But they seem like decent guys."

That was true; apart from tying with New Directions at Sectionals, the Warblers hadn't really done anything wrong just yet – 'yet' being the keyword.

When they finally found the two, in their opinions, most perfect trees at the stand, Finn walked off to find the owner. When he returned, owner in tow, it appeared that Kurt had been ambushed by the Warblers.

Or, well, one of them. A short, curly haired one. The guy who'd sung lead during Sectionals.

" – just looked it up," he was saying, a smile plastered to his face. As Finn looked closer, he noticed that Kurt looked pretty amused as well. "And as it turns out, you were right. But if you don't mind me asking – how did you know? And how did you know that we're a Glee club?"

Kurt shrugged. "We had a similar situation last year," he explained. "Only it involved mattresses, instead of Christmas trees. And it wasn't just singing – it was a full-blown commercial. Not that that matters so much. Why are you in Lima anyway?"

"The owner is an uncle of one of the other guys," the Warbler replied. "He grew a bit sick of listening to the same songs in the same compositions all the time, so he asked us for some relief."

"So this was the one you wanted?" the owner asked Finn, effectively interrupting the little chit-chat Kurt had going on with the other boy.

"Uh – yeah," Finn replied, not daring to look in Kurt's direction. "This one – and another one over there."

"Two Christmas trees?" the Warbler asked, sounding amused. Then again, he'd sounded amused for the largest part of the conversation (as far as Finn was aware). And – now he was stealthily looking Kurt up and down as the slightly taller boy answered the question.

"One for our Glee club, one for at home," Kurt replied. "Finn here is my stepbrother, so…"

Realisation seemed to dawn on the Warbler's face. "You're in New Directions?" he asked. "That explains a lot."

"Yes, we are," Finn replied proudly before Kurt could even think of a reply. "And we just saw you perform."

"We're just carolling," the boy replied, keeping his eyes glued to Kurt. "Are you going to be carolling somewhere?"

"Like we'd tell you," Finn huffed, by now growing a bit suspicious of this boy's more than obvious attention for Kurt. Not to mention his failing attempts at spying on the competition.

"Finn, please," his stepbrother said, sounding exasperated. Turning back to the other – still nameless, Finn suddenly realised – boy, he responded, "We tried carolling at school. That didn't go over well. They don't like us very much there."

"Let's go, Kurt," Finn told him. "We're going to be late!"

"Nobody ever told us when we had to be back home," Kurt countered.

"It's a school night!" Finn cried out, waving his arms around.

"You never cared about that before," Kurt retorted, rolling his eyes. "Besides, it's only – it's only eight, Finn."

Finn knew the look that was on the Warbler's face right now – there was amusement, mixed with the same look some of his (and Kurt's) friends gave others when they were checking them out. Oh – shit. This wasn't good. This wasn't good _at all_.

"I already told the owner which trees we wanted. It would be rude not to follow him and buy them and _leave_." He tried, but failed, to get Kurt to move.

"Listen – Finn, was it?" the short boy addressed him. "Could you – give us a moment, please?"

Finn crossed his arms. "Kurt and I are brothers now. We have a great, healthy, _brotherly_ relationship and we have no secrets for each other." Lie. Big, fat, lie. "Anything you tell him, he'll tell me later anyway, so you might as well say what you want to say with me here."

The boy gave him a weird look before turning back to Kurt, who looked ready to murder someone – Finn, probably. "Your stepbrother creeps me out a bit," the Warbler told Kurt.

"He tends to have that effect on people, yes," Kurt replied, glaring at Finn. "But just ignore him. It's what I always do."

"Right," the Warbler said with a nod. Finn assumed that he had introduced himself to Kurt – he was a prep school boy and he seemed too polite not to – but Finn still wasn't clued in. "Anyway, what I wanted to ask – are you doing something this weekend?"

Kurt's eyebrows rose to an unimaginable level, and in any other situation, Finn would've thought this hilarious. Now, however, there were more serious matters at hand. Like this guy – who was their competition, hello – potentially hitting on Kurt. Did they even know if he was gay? And even if he was – that didn't make it okay.

"No, not that I know of," Kurt replied with a smile, and Finn wanted to smack his stepbrother for flirting right back. "Why?"

The other boy reddened at the question, which made him seem slightly less dangerous to Finn. Maybe he was being sincere, and not just trying to break their group apart. "I was – uh… wondering if…" he trailed off, smiling apologetically at Kurt, who, for some reason, smiled back.

"How about we grab some coffee this weekend?" Kurt proposed, and Finn didn't think he'd ever seen a guy look as grateful as the Warbler did in his entire life.

"That would be amazing," the boy answered. "I mean – yeah, I'd like that."

Kurt continued to look amused and didn't say anything for a while, which gave Finn the opportunity to ask, "But Kurt, what about Sam?"

This seemed to alarm the Warbler, but Kurt just gave Finn an incredulous look. "Sam? As in, Quinn's boyfriend?" he asked, and the Warbler seemed to let out a breath in relief. "What about him?"

"Ah – no, never mind," Finn muttered. "I really think we should go, though. The owner's starting to look a bit impatient."

"Wait!" the Warbler cried out. "Kurt – do you think – I mean, could I have – I mean…"

"My number?" Kurt guessed happily. "Sure, give me your phone."

"I'll call you then," the other boy told him. "Or maybe I'll text you."

"Either's fine with me," Kurt said as he gave the boy his phone back. "I'll see you later. Good luck carolling."

"Thanks!" the boy shouted in response before disappearing in between some of the trees.

After that, Finn and Kurt approached the owner of the stand and paid for the trees, which he had already moved towards the cash register for them. Together, the two stepbrothers placed the trees in the back of the car. Kurt never complained about his clothes once, though Finn wasn't sure if that was because he was wearing old clothes, or because he was going out with some guy he barely even knew. Which reminded him –

"Are you sure you should do this?" he urgently asked Kurt as they sat down in the car. "I mean, you don't even know him, and what if this is another Jesse situation? Imagine what Rachel – "

"Relax, Finn, we're only going out for coffee," Kurt quickly told him. "Besides, we've seen more of them than the other way around so far, and as opposed to Blaine, I'm not the lead singer of our club. So if anyone ought to worry, it should be the Warblers – not you guys."

"Blaine?" Finn asked, frowning. "You're going out with a guy named _Blaine_?"

Kurt scoffed. "What's wrong with _Blaine_?"

"I don't know," Finn replied, shrugging. "It just – sounds a bit odd. A typical… prep boy name."

"I assure you, Finn, it'll be fine. I can take care of myself."

"Is he even gay?" Finn asked. If the looks this _Blaine_ had been giving Kurt were any indication, it was very likely that he was gay, but one could never be too sure.

"Yes, he is," Kurt confirmed. "His team mates - who sort of just left again after asking me if I was - told me before you came – _and wouldn't leave us alone_."

"And what will your dad say?" Finn asked, ignoring what Kurt said. If anyone could put a stop to this, it was Burt.

"He'll just have to be happy for me," Kurt said, seeming a bit uncertain as well as to whether or not Burt would allow Kurt to go out with this guy. "I'm seventeen, Finn. He can't protect me forever." Shaking his head, Kurt muttered, "We'll see about what dad says when we get home. Can't you just be happy for me for once, Finn? I understand that you have the girls lined up for you, but this is the first time a guy showed any interest in me. And he seemed like a nice guy – why shouldn't I go out with him? Why can't I take a chance for once?"

"I'll try to help you convince Burt," Finn promised. Maybe Kurt was right, and he definitely deserved a shot at happiness for once. The least Finn could do was lend him a hand. "But," he continued, "if this _Blaine_ does anything to hurt you, me and the guys will make him pay. And I'm sure your dad will want to help."

"Perfect," Kurt mumbled to himself, "_now_ is the time he chooses to become an overprotective brother." Finn just grinned back happily, glad that his stepbrother had at least gotten _that_ message.

* * *

**A/N**: So... what do you think? Wasn't it too OOC? Did it all make sense? Let me know what you think, please review! (also, if you have any prompts or ideas or anything (from vague to specific), let me know too - I'm going to try to write some stuff people asked for instead of coming up with something myself for a change :P)


	10. Funk

**A/N**: So... it's been 2,5 weeks since the last update, and I apologise - real life got in the way, and the chapter wasn't an easy one to write - the Warblers at the cheerleading Nationals during season 1. My first _Glee_ fanfic was similar to this idea, so I hope it doesn't seem repetitive. This was prompted by _Lolasatsuma, _and also (some time ago) by _LiliesAreWhite_. My main problem with the chapter was that suddenly, it seemed like I kept repeating myself over and over again, every single chapter. I'm not sure if that's the case, but I don't feel like mentioning the bullying, the Glee club stuff, the family stuff, the fact the New Directions is so unliked at McKinley, and much else, every time. So that's sort of why this chapter ends where it ends. And, I cannot write Sue, or Brittany, or Santana, so what's this - a chapter in which they all appear and speak. Please let me know if they seem/are OOC or anything, that would be very helpful :) Oh _and_: the girlfriends mentioned are the same ones as in an earlier chapter, but now they're at Nationals. Which is in Chicago - according to Google Maps, it takes about six hours to get there from Westerville, so it's doable, I suppose.

And lastly, I'd like to thank everyone who's read/reviewed/favourited/alerted this story so far. You're all amazing :)

Hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom! :)

* * *

Blaine was bored. Sure, the music was sort of nice, he supposed. But that was about it. He didn't understand how everyone else could be so enthusiastic about what was happening on stage. He didn't see what was so appealing about a group of girls in short skirts doing this sort of… stuff. Dancing around, doing gymnastics, trying to catch the judges' attention. It wasn't even one group of girls, though. No, Blaine's friends (if he would still consider them as such after today) had managed to drag him along to a cheerleading championship. With cheerleaders from all over the country.

The dream of every straight guy.

Too bad Blaine wasn't exactly what you'd call straight.

He let out another longsuffering sigh, but neither Wes nor David seemed to notice. Of course, that might have to do with the fact that their girlfriends' squad was finally on, trying to impress everyone around.

To be fair, however, after so many groups of cheerleaders, Blaine didn't really see the difference between this group and all the others. It all seemed the same to him. Some groups even (accidentally, he suspected) used the same music.

"How much longer do I have to sit here?" he muttered once the current squad was done and the applause had died down. Normally, he wouldn't ask such a thing. He would only think it, and even then, he would attempt _not_ to think it. He was far too polite for that.

This wasn't a normal situation, though. He had been dragged out of bed in the middle of the night, so he had barely slept. He was still stiff from the car ride, Wes and David had eaten all the food while he had tried sleeping a bit, and to top it all off, he was stuck here until his friends decided to drive all the way back to Westerville.

"There should be a break soon," David replied distractedly. "After the next performance."

"I meant overall," Blaine grumbled. "How long until we can go back to Dalton?"

Wes rolled his eyes. "It's not that bad, Blaine."

That wasn't an answer, and Blaine knew that Wes knew that. He narrowed his eyes at his friend, but didn't say anything. After all, he partly had himself to blame for this situation – if he hadn't been so quick to say yes when the other two boys had proposed to go on a road trip the day before.

He wouldn't have agreed if he'd known that his friends were going to drag him to _Chicago_ for a _cheerleading competition_. Not that he hated Chicago – he just didn't like cheerleading. He didn't see the appeal.

"Can't I just leave and explore the city instead?" he asked, slightly hopeful.

"No," Wes and David replied automatically and simultaneously.

"We'll never find you again," David added. "What's taking them so long?" he muttered, frowning at the stage.

At that moment, the screeching of a microphone sounded through the hall. There was some vague muttering and shuffling before the next group was announced. Blaine wasn't very interested in listening, but he did here Wes make a comment about this group also being from Ohio. That wasn't going to make this whole experience anymore bearable for Blaine, though.

Music started playing, and judging from the gasps around Blaine, the current team had started their performance in an amazing way. He sighed and looked at the stage anyway. He might not be very interested in what was happening there, but even he had to admit that his hands weren't exactly fascinating either.

All of a sudden, a clear, high voice was heard. Within a few seconds, Blaine realised that it wasn't an English song, but a French one. What…? There were cheerleading squads using French music? Sure, it would make them stand out more, but it probably wouldn't help them win, right?

"Celine Dion?" he heard David mutter, and Wes shrugged.

"Could be."

Blaine didn't know a lot about Celine Dion, but he had heard songs by her. Heck, if his cousins wanted to watch _Titanic_ with him one more time, he was going to go crazy. And from what he knew, Celine Dion didn't quite sound like this.

Indeed, mere seconds later (right before Blaine was going to discuss this with his friends), the source of the singing came into view. While Blaine had realised that it wasn't Celine Dion singing, he hadn't reached the conclusion that it wasn't even a woman or a girl who sang. Rather, a young boy of about his age in a cheerleading uniform was belting out the lyrics like he did this every day, all the while sticking closely to the choreography the other cheerleaders followed as well.

It was… different.

Even though this group might not get bonus points for using French music, the fact that the music was sung live might just give them the edge at this championship.

For once, Blaine actually liked a cheerleaders' performance. He blamed it on the fantastic vocals, but it must've also helped that there was actually a male cheerleader on the stage for a change, and as stated before, Blaine _did_ prefer the male physics over the female ones.

Not to mention the fact that the uniform the boy was wearing seemed to be made especially for him – it fit him perfectly. And he was a cheerleader, so he was definitely in shape.

Nope, Blaine wasn't complaining at all. For once.

Wes and David noticed as well.

"Blaine, are you alright?" Wes hissed at him.

"You're so quiet," David added, sounding a bit concerned.

"Sshh!" Blaine hissed at his friends. Couldn't they get a hint? Couldn't they see that he was busy watching the performance? Couldn't they enjoy it as well, like normal people?

He didn't need to look at his friends to know that they were exchanging knowing glances right about… now.

As soon as the (in Blaine's eyes rather flawless) performance was over, the cheerleaders retreated backstage, and most people in the audience started moving as well. Blaine, however, stayed seated for another minute, recovering from what he'd just seen. There were no words to describe it.

"Blaine? Are you coming?" David and Wes were already standing, most likely bursting with anticipation to catch their girlfriends after their performance.

"Just go ahead," Blaine muttered in response. "I'll be right there."

True to his word, he didn't sit around for much longer, but he didn't hurry out of the hall as quickly as everyone else. He wandered around the lobby for a few minutes, got himself a drink and sat down again, now on one of the couches nobody was occupying. He would just settle for watching people - normal people, who weren't cheerleading.

" – slipped for half a second at the end," he then heard a girl complain. "I hope she didn't notice." Or maybe not.

"I thought Mercedes was going to sing," another girl said vaguely.

"She quit weeks ago, Britt," a third voice said – and it sounded very familiar. Glancing towards the source of the voices, Blaine's eyes widened. It was the boy who'd been singing before, plus two girls who were probably on the same squad, by the looks of it.

"Did she die?" the same girl – a blonde – asked concernedly, and the other girl rolled her eyes.

"Of course she didn't, you've seen her around, haven't you?"

The blond girl continued to look worried and confused, and Blaine chose that moment to walk up to them and say something, although he was just the slightest bit nervous.

"Hi," he greeted them, smiling as well as he could at the moment. "You were… really good. Seriously. Absolutely phenomenal."

The boy had the modesty to blush, but the dark haired girl just smirked. "We know," she told him, eyeing him as she spoke. "Took everyone's breath away, I'm sure."

Now, the blonde looked even more worried. "But don't those people need to breathe to live?" she asked, causing Blaine to frown at her. Was this girl serious?

"Anyway," he continued when none of the other three said anything, "you were great. Very original."

The dark haired girl just nodded impatiently. "Yes, yes, we know," she told him. "Now – what brings _you_ here?"

Blaine rolled his eyes, remembering the sacrifice he'd made for his friends this morning. "My friends dragged me along. Their girlfriends are on some or other cheerleading squad. I think the one right before you."

The girl smirked again. "So you're… alone? It's still half an hour before the break's over. I'm sure I could make it worth the wait…"

Blaine stared at her in shock. "What?" he sputtered. "You – what? No!" He wasn't usually so ineloquent, but then again, he'd never been in this kind of situation before. "I'm not – I don't… well, play for your team, if you – "

The blonde looked confused. "Of course you don't, you would be wearing a uniform if you did!"

"I actually meant that I'm not… well, into girls," Blaine almost whispered, and the girl's face lit up.

"Oh, you're capital-G gay?" she exclaimed happily, grinning from ear to ear. "But so is Kurtsie – and he still made out with me." In a serious, but also slightly... scary sounding voice, she added, "One day, he'll be mine again."

Blaine was about to say something (like that there was such a thing as _beards_, or ask who this _Kurtsie_ person even was) when he noticed that the other boy had buried his face in his hands and was muttering to himself. The Latina, however, beat him to it.

"In that case," she told him slowly, smiling wickedly, "I'm sure _Kurt_ here could make your wait worthwhile." With that, she jabbed the boy (who was, indeed, still wearing his cheerleading uniform, Blaine noticed suddenly – so were the girls, but hey, that was something he didn't notice as quickly) in the ribs.

"Santana!" Blushing fiercely, the boy glared at the Latina with all his might, but she didn't appear fazed.

Yes. That was most definitely an awkward position to be in. "Uh, thanks," Blaine said, looking around the group, "but I think I'll decline. I don't really believe in… sex with random strangers, or whatever."

Now, Santana grinned even wider, taking in both boys' uneasiness, and Blaine eyed her wearily. "Who said anything about sex?" she asked, in such a loud tone that several people around them looked their way. "I thought we could sing for you or something!"

"Yeah, right," Kurt muttered, still glaring daggers at the girl. Blaine couldn't agree more; there was no way that this Santana girl had wanted to imply just _singing_.

A few seconds later, a tall, rather intimidating woman in a track suit came walking towards them. Blaine recognised her only vaguely (but from where?), but his three companions seemed to know her just fine.

"Coach Sylvester," Santana greeted her with a smile that seemed to diminish by the second. "Should we – "

"For that slip up you made during our number, you're going to go back in there and watch all the mind-numbingly dull, _awful_ so-called cheerleading performances that have yet to come," the woman (their coach?) told Santana in a business-like voice. Santana whimpered a little, but the woman had already turned to Kurt and Brittany. "I don't care what you two do. As long as you don't do anything to get me disqualified, do whatever the hell you want."

Brittany grinned as she turned to Kurt. "Want to make out?" she asked eagerly, but he hastily shook his head. Their coach continued as if there had been no interruption at all.

"As far as I'm concerned, we've already won this competition, and with this trophy, I'll show Schuester what winning is all about – something he will never experience in his miserable life. He should be thanking me that I'll show him that when I'm a judge at his competition next week."

As she walked away triumphantly, the group of teenagers was eerily silent for a while.

"_Coach Sylvester_ is going to be a judge at Regionals?" Kurt asked softly, as if he couldn't believe his ears.

"This is bad," Santana agreed. She actually looked frightened, but Blaine felt like he was missing the point.

"What's going on?" he asked. "What was she talking about?"

"Exactly what he just said," Santana almost snapped at him, looking at Kurt for a split second. "She's going to be a judge at our Regionals competition next week, and that's not good."

"Isn't this the Nationals competition?" Blaine was confused – and he didn't like it one bit.

Santana rolled her eyes, but before she could reply, Kurt said, "We're not just on the cheerleading squad. We're also in our school's Glee club. We're headed to Regionals next week. But for some reason, coach Sylvester hates the Glee club, and she'll do anything in her power to destroy it." He frowned. "Winning at Regionals was one of the principal's demands for us to be able to keep the club."

"So she'll deliberately make us lose next week, no matter what," Santana finished somewhat morosely. She sure had some heavy mood swings.

Yeah, that had to suck. Blaine would never understand public schools, even though he'd only been at Dalton for a year of two. "You're in a Glee club?" he asked nevertheless. "So am I! Not that we're going to a Regionals competition this year, we got stomped by Vocal Adrenaline – maybe you've heard of them?"

Judging by the looks on their faces, they had most definitely heard of Vocal Adrenaline. "Unfortunately, yes," Kurt said shortly, his eyes murderous.

"I still want to punch the crap out of that Jesse kid's face," Santana added, fuming. Wow. Their experiences with Vocal Adrenaline must've been more serious than anything they'd ever done to the Warblers (basically, beating them every year at Sectionals). "Shame, he was fairly good looking."

"He wasn't nice though," Brittany said sadly. "Which is weird – Mr Schue's super nice, so his son should be nice too, right?" And there she went, looking confused again.

"They're our main competition at Regionals," Kurt informed Blaine. "So winning would be hard enough even without coach Sylvester in the judging panel."

Oh, right – now Blaine remembered Wes telling him that this group was from Ohio as well. "Well, good luck anyway," he told them, smiling. "I'm sure you'll do great. You'll bring the house down."

When Brittany started saying something about how they wouldn't even be in a house, Santana excused the two of them quickly as she steered her friend away. Kurt smiled apologetically. "Sorry about Brittany. She can be a bit much, I imagine."

"She's something else," Blaine agreed, still baffled.

Kurt nodded, silently looking around. When he turned back to Blaine, he asked, "So your friends had to drag you here?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Blaine responded, rolling his eyes. "I'm not really a fan of cheerleading – no offence – so I would not be here if it hadn't been for them."

"That's understandable. I can see why girls like it – it's a great way of staying in shape, even if you have to make a lot of sacrifices if you want to stay on the Cheerios in particular. I suppose straight guys don't really see a problem with ogling girls in short skirts either, but there's not much to it when you're gay and you have to sit here for hours with nothing better to do than watch every stunt in the book at least thirty times." When Blaine sent him a questioning glance, Kurt sighed. "I'm not really involved in much of the choreography, as I mostly just sing, but I do have to be there for every practice. It's pretty tedious. I think I'll quit the team after this, even if coach Sylvester maintains you have to either die or be kicked off."

Even if he hadn't just seen the woman himself, Blaine would be quite scared right now, if only from what he'd heard about her.

When the break was almost over, Kurt asked, "Do you have to go back in there?"

_Probably_, Blaine thought. Wes and David would wonder where he was if he didn't go back, but on the other hand – he didn't really want to watch the contest.

"My friends," he replied with a shrug. "They're… afraid that I'll get lost and then they'll never find me again."

"We'll stay here anyway," Kurt said. "Coach Sylvester will kill me – literally – if I leave this place."

Blaine hesitated for a moment. "I'll text them to let them know," he said in the end, supposing that was enough of a compromise. Wes and David would be able to focus more on the performances without Blaine there, and he wouldn't have to watch. He was certain that sitting out here, chatting with Kurt (who had turned out to be a great companion so far), would be much more satisfying for all the parties involved.

* * *

**A/N**: Well, what do you think? If you have any comments or questions, don't hesitate to leave a review, and please do so as well if you have (a) prompt(s) for me to write :) I can't promise I'll immediately write them since I've got quite a few already, but who knows! Oh - I also kind of need some song ideas for Kurt's solo at Sectionals that didn't happen in the end (both for this story and for something else I'm planning), and I don't know an awful lot of songs, so... if you have anything, let me know!  
(The next chapter (which wasn't prompted by anyone, but just... was there) should be up in around a week, unless I'm inspired to write something else before then :) But I will be rather busy for at least another month :S)


	11. Born this way

**A/N**: I know I promised this would be up yesterday (I think), but as you can see, that didn't happen. I hope you can all live with that ;) This is also not the chapter I announced at the end of last chapter, but another (shorter) one (the announced chapter will be posted at some point in the future). That's also the reason why it's up only now - I was still writing it. Anyway, this was prompted by _CaramelFair_, who asked for a public performance of _Born this way_, and the aftermath of that. I hope this lives up to your expectations :)  
To be honest, I didn't really feel like mapping out what would've happened in each chapter if Kurt hadn't met Blaine and left for Dalton at some point, which is why the situation here is so similar to the one on the show at this point. Here, though, Rachel and Santana are present, but Karofsky, Will and Emma are not. There's also a lot of changing POVs in this chapter, so I hope that's not too confusing!

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter! Reviews are, as always, very welcome, so please, tell me what you think of the chapter/story when you're done :) It doesn't (necessarily) take long :)  
(and, don't forget, you can still leave prompts, of course, as well as possible solos Kurt could've sung at Sectionals if he hadn't left (preferably nothing that he's already sung at another point in the show))

* * *

A little over a month after losing to New Directions at Regionals, the Warblers were back to what they usually did during the year: preparing impromptu performances for the other students at Dalton Academy and allowing themselves to relax more than was possible when there was a competition coming up.

This particular weekend found about half of them hanging around in the mall in Westerville – the very same as the one where they'd helped Blaine get his Gap-employee fired just before Valentine's Day. As long as they made sure not to get too close to the Gap, Blaine (and the rest of them as well; not that they would ever admit it) wouldn't freak out too much.

All of a sudden, they noticed a small commotion near their usual coffee shop. A small audience had formed around the makeshift stage that was located there (mostly used in the summer, during special occasions or festivals), and there were some people talking. Then, the show began, and Blaine snorted as he recognised the song.

"Lady Gaga has _nothing_ on Katy Perry," he said defiantly while they approached the singing (or, at this moment, talking).

When they reached the group, however, Blaine's jaw dropped, and he could hear the snickers of his friends around him.

"But I bet Katy Perry has nothing on _this _guy, right, Blaine?" Wes asked with an amused smile. Blaine didn't care, though – his ears, just like his eyes, were fixed on the boy who'd opened the song, and who was now moving across the stage with two girls while they sang.

David added, "At least he likes guys, according to his shirt…" Now, Blaine nodded – that was very fortunate indeed.

"I like his shirt," Blaine commented, still staring at the boy. He even sounded a little envious.

"Maybe you can just ask him to give it to you, since he'd look much better without it anyway?" Jeff joked. "I mean, that's what you could tell him…"

Blaine tore his eyes away from the performance to give Jeff an incredulous look. No way – there was no way he was going to do _that_. He was supposed to be a gentleman, right? What gentleman asks someone to take off their shirt just because of the view?

Quickly looking back at the stage, he revelled some more in the idea that the boy up there was not into girls, but into guys. As he watched the group (of five, currently) dance, he definitely counted himself lucky.

And then, the chorus started. The kids on stage all walked towards the back of the stage, giving the audience a pretty good view of their backs – and Blaine didn't mind at all. More people joined them on stage and they were _good_.

Blaine was temporarily distracted from the first boy when three others stood at the front – an Asian boy who apparently couldn't sing, a blonde whose hair colour didn't look entirely real, and a guy in a wheelchair.

Wait – a guy in a wheelchair?

"Oh God," Wes muttered at that moment so that only the Warblers standing around him heard, "it's New Directions!"

As he pointed out various members – mainly the people who had sung solos at Sectionals and Regionals, Blaine's attention was once more caught by the boy who, apparently, liked boys. He strode forward once more (Blaine was very surprised that nobody in the audience was jeering at the group, and more specifically at the boy), pulling his jacket off and throwing it into the audience –

The other Warblers laughed hysterically as the piece of clothing hit Blaine right on the head. Mindlessly, Blaine disentangled it from his gelled curls and stared at it stupidly for a moment before focussing on the performance again. All the guys were now standing at the front, pulling off their jackets and showing their own shirts. Blaine wasn't complaining at all at the sight. Shortly after that, the girls stepped forward to show off what their shirts said, which was met by the approval of the other Warblers. Well – to each his own, Blaine supposed.

Soon after, the performance was over, and Blaine felt rather sad. That was, until Nick grabbed his arm.

"What are you still doing here, Blaine?" Blaine looked at him non-understandingly, and Nick nodded at the group. "They're all trying to find their jackets again. Just go up there, give the guy his jacket back, and, I don't know, compliment him on the performance?"

"Yeah," Trent chimed in, "and ask him to introduce us to any single female friends he has while you're at it."

"Or what some of their shirts meant," Thad added.

"Like why the Hispanic girl is wearing a shirt that says 'Lebanese'," Jeff said with a frown.

Wes nodded enthusiastically. "It's always good to know where the weaknesses of the competition lie," he told them seriously. "Who knows, maybe we're up against New Directions again next year!"

"_We_ are _graduating_ this year, Wes," Thad told him, rolling his eyes.

Blaine hurriedly left, before they could say anything else.

He didn't have to look far, as he bumped into the person he was looking for within ten seconds after running off. "Hi," he greeted the boy, most likely sporting an incredibly dopey grin on his face. "I uh… have your jacket."

"Thanks," the boy said with a smile. "Hey – don't I know you?"

"I don't know," Blaine blurted out, realising too late that, as the lead vocalist of the Warblers, their competition probably knew him. "But – you were really great up there. I liked the performance. And I like boys too."

He groaned and covered his face with his hands, mortified; had he really just said that? They had barely had a normal conversation and already, this boy would think he was a freak.

"Really?" To Blaine's immense surprise, the boy sounded _interested_. "And you're… out, and everything?" When Blaine nodded, the boy stared at him for a moment (not that Blaine minded). "Wow. You're the first out gay guy besides myself who I've ever met."

"You're kidding, right?"

The boy shook his head. "I doubt there are an awful lot of out gay guys in Ohio, so it's not that weird, is it?"

Blaine thought about this. The student body at Dalton was mostly made up out of straight guys, but even with the not as big amount of gay boys, it might still be distortion of the reality.

He shrugged. "I guess. That's just what an all-boys school does to you, I suppose."

The boy looked him over once more, and concluded, "You go to Dalton, right? And if I'm not mistaken, you're in the Warblers, too."

Blaine smiled hesitantly. "Guilty as charged, I'm afraid. You were fantastic, though. It was a great performance."

"Thanks," the boy said, beaming at him. "I have to admit, I didn't think the audience – if there was even going to be one – would react like this."

"Because of your shirt," Blaine guessed.

"Mostly, yes. Then again, we don't ever stick to the norm, so this performance isn't really anything out of the ordinary for us."

"Seriously?" Blaine was having some trouble wrapping his mind around that fact. "You don't… practise everything thoroughly and mostly just focus on the competition?"

The boy eyed him oddly. "You mean you _do_?"

Blaine grinned, sensing an opportunity there. "Why don't we go inside?" he asked, nodding towards the coffee shop they were still outside of. "We can talk all we want over some coffee."

For a moment, the boy just regarded him, with his eyebrows raised. "I don't even know your name," he stated drily.

Oh, wow. That was bad. Blaine never forgot to introduce himself, and _now_ he did? "I'm Blaine," he said, extending his right hand.

"Kurt," the other boy replied, shaking his hand. "So… shall we go in?"

Blaine allowed a grin to take over his face, and he nodded quickly. "Let's go."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Wes pretended to wipe a tear away as he watched Blaine lead the way into the coffee shop, and David commented, "They're growing up so fast!"

"He didn't even send the hot girls our way!" Trent protested from behind them, and Wes shook his head. Nobody got the chance to say anything to that, as one of the New Direction girls _did_ come their way all of a sudden.

"She doesn't look too happy," David muttered worriedly. Whispers broke out among the other Warblers, and when the two council members looked around after a few seconds, they were just in time to see their friends walk off hurriedly.

"You two, Warblers," the girl greeted them, standing right in front of them right now. She looked far from happy, with her pointed stare and her arms crossed over her chest, making it impossible for the guys to read what was on her shirt.

"What can we help you with?" Wes asked as politely as he could at that moment. "If you're looking for available guys, we both have girlfriends. But some of that lot," (with that, he pointed at the other Warblers, now standing a good distance away) "will probably fight for your attention and affection."

The girl just narrowed her eyes at them, and Wes and David stared back, bemused. What was this girl doing? Still, the longer she glared at them, the more uncomfortable the two boys became. This girl knew how to be intimidating.

"What is it?" David suddenly exclaimed, unable to take it anymore. "What do you want from us?"

David had always been a little (or a lot, depending on the situation) dramatic.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Wes noticed that their friends were now surrounded by the rest of the New Directions group. It was all Blaine's fault, he decided – and where was said boy? Sitting in a coffee shop, chatting up some guy he'd just met.

"I know what you're doing," the girl said confidently. "You're spying on us, and you're trying to mess with our heads. Well, I can tell you this – mess with one of us, and we'll mess with you."

Now, Wes and David wouldn't have been very intimidated by that threat – sure, the girl could make them feel like incompetent toddlers by just staring them down, but she didn't look very strong physically – if it wasn't for the New Directions guys, who all looked like typical jocks. Yeah, they seemed pretty dangerous.

"We're not spying," Wes hastily told her. "This is a public place, in Westerville – two hours away from where you live, whereas we go to school here. Besides, you beat us at Regionals, remember? Why would we want to spy on you now?"

"You're in cahoots with Vocal Adrenaline," the girl said, pursing her lips together.

"No, we're not," David was quick to inform her. "We're not on anyone's side. Not on yours, not on theirs. We were just walking around when we noticed your performance."

"Right," Wes added, "and as fellow performers, we can appreciate a good show when we see one. This was definitely a good show."

The girl still seemed to have some trouble believing them. "Then why was your friend so eager to talk to Kurt, if you don't want to break him completely?" she asked, confused.

Was this girl crazy? Wes and David exchanged glances before turning back to her. "It's not that complicated," Wes told her, and David started explaining.

"It's really not. See, he's a single gay guy in the middle of Ohio. There's not much of a chance for him to meet a like-minded person here, and then, all of a sudden, he does see someone. Not just someone, but a boy who is exactly his type, and who's not too shy to wear a shirt proclaiming he likes boys in, well, the middle of Ohio. If you were in his situation, wouldn't you have been eager to talk to that guy?"

"Did we break her?" Wes asked concernedly when the girl didn't react in any way within the next five seconds.

"So… what are his motives?" she asked finally, obviously shocked that there had been such a simple explanation for Blaine's behaviour.

"Didn't we make that clear?" David had the feeling that they were repeating the same stuff over and over again. "He's just interested and wants to get to know that guy. I don't know, I can't read his mind – especially from this distance."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Our friends are weird," Blaine commented, observing the groups from inside the coffee shop. Next to him, Kurt nodded.

"They certainly are. Do you think they would notice if we snuck out of here? You _really_ need a new pair of shoes and I think I know _just_ where to get them…"

"How often have you been in Westerville?" Blaine asked, frowning at Kurt confusedly.

Kurt shrugged. "Never. But I do my research before going somewhere new."

Blaine contemplated this for a few seconds before giving in. "Alright, let's see if we can get past them."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Meanwhile, the small group of Warblers was being accosted by twice as many New Directions members. It wasn't a comfortable situation for the Dalton boys.

Just like their short friend, they started interrogating the Warblers about Blaine's intentions with Kurt – which was odd in itself – and passing out threats on their friend's behalf.

"Why aren't you telling Blaine all this?" Nick asked exasperatedly after a few minutes. "What are you talking to us for?"

"Kurt would kill us if we did," the Asian girl said simply.

"And we trust you to pass the message to your friend," one of the blond girls added.

"Isn't this the sort of conversation Blaine should be having with this Kurt's parents before their first date, or something?" Jeff asked, a little shocked at the fact that all these people (who all seemed so different from one another) seemed to have such a tight bond anyway.

"We're a family, in a way," the same Asian girl replied.

"And I'm really his stepbrother," a tall boy announced. "So I get to threaten him if he ever comes around, right?"

The Warblers exchanged glances, already feeling bad for Blaine. This guy was about twice as tall as their friend.

"Yes, Finn, you do," a dark girl told him. "So do I, though, Kurt is my best friend." She glared at the Warblers, as if daring them to dispute this.

Then, all the New Directions members started naming their own reasons that would give them the right to threaten Blaine if he would ever start dating Kurt. As far as the Warblers knew, they were only getting a coffee together, or whatever it was they were doing inside. That didn't mean _anything_.

"Doesn't his dad own a shotgun?" the Mohawked guy asked the stepbrother, who nodded solemnly.

"He showed me when we moved into the new house. I'm not sure why, though. He also has a flamethrower."

"And he's very protective of Kurt," the dark girl clarified, as if the Warblers hadn't realised that yet.

One of the blond girls (who hadn't spoken up until now) nodded gravely. "I think he has a whole lot of burglar alarms."

"…What?" Thad was clearly caught off guard, but then again, most New Directions members didn't appear to have a clue as to what the girl meant either. That wasn't much of a consolation, though.

"Nothing," the Latina snapped, looking away from her blond friend to glare at the Warblers.

She scrutinised them all closely, and Jeff blurted out, "Why does your shirt say you're Lebanese?"

"That's none of your business," she told him coolly, but slightly nervously, "and stop trying to change the subject."

"What subject?" Nick asked. "Aren't you done yet? We know by now that if Blaine starts going out with your friend and hurts him in any way, he'll never survive."

"Why are you doing this now?" the tall boy asked, seeming a bit uneasy. "Wouldn't it have been more bene…bone… whatever – before Regionals?" Now, he just looked confused.

Thad, probably feeling the need to show off what a good council member he was, shrugged and informed the other group, "The Warblers don't spy on the competition. We want to win fair and square, without any cheating. We had no idea that you had an openly gay guy in your midst as well, and even then, Blaine is the perfect gentleman and would never take advantage of your friend, before or after our competition season is over."

"So what's he doing with Kurt?" the dark girl wanted to know.

"How are we supposed to know?" Thad cried out while the other three boys started laughing uncontrollably. "To be honest, I don't need to know everything Blaine does in his free time, thank you very much! _We_ respect each other's privacy perfectly well!"

"But," Nick interjected, before Thad could start ranting for real, "think about it this way. He's an openly gay guy in high school in Ohio, who suddenly meets another openly gay guy. They both enjoy singing, most likely know about the hardships of being gay in Ohio – "

"They're hot," the Latina interjected matter-of-factly, actually looking a little bored as she said this, and instantly received a few confused looks, and a lot of eye-rolls.

"Uh – yeah," Nick continued, feeling a little flustered. "I suppose, objectively speaking, they're both… reasonably attractive…"

"But, as Thad just told you, Blaine's too much of a gentleman to pressure your friend into anything he doesn't want," Trent quickly saved Nick from further embarrassment. "They're probably talking now, and maybe they'll go on a date some time, since Blaine looked absolutely smitten during your performance – "

"So that's… all?" the Asian girl asked uncertainly. "You're not trying to destroy our chances at Nationals?"

"No, we're not," Wes called from behind them as he, David and the girl (whose name turned out to be Rachel) approached.

"Don't worry," the girl told her team mates. "I've interrogated them sufficiently, and I _think_ Kurt should be safe."

The New Directions members seemed to relax immediately as she said this, even though they also seemed a little annoyed by the girl's attempt to sound superior to them.

"Who's up for a little espionage?" David asked happily, rubbing his hands together and glancing at the coffee shop.

The tall stepbrother turned towards the other Warblers, obviously confused. "Weren't you Warblers against spying?" he asked, doubt evident in his voice.

"We're against spying on the _competition_," Thad repeated.

Wes added, "Which doesn't mean that we're also opposed to spying on our own members."

With that, the Dalton boys walked towards the door of the coffee shop, leaving the other students to follow them hurriedly. Wes threw the door open dramatically, but their friends were nowhere in sight. Turning back to the bunch of teenagers behind him, he announced sheepishly, "They escaped…"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Blaine grinned as Kurt frowned down at his phone for at least the twentieth time. "Another text inquiring about your whereabouts?" he asked, amused.

Kurt shot him a pointed look. "Like _your_ friends are any better."

That was true; apparently, Wes and David had discovered a new side of themselves – namely, their overdramatic side. Kurt said that it was probably due to their obvious exposal to one Rachel Berry. They had also been called many times, but had quickly put their phones on mute after the first few occurrences.

"Maybe we should at least send them a text that we're okay, and not kidnapped, hurt, or dead?" Blaine proposed.

"Let's," Kurt agreed. Once he was done, he eyed Blaine critically. "And don't _you_ think you're done quite yet. We may have found you new shoes, but – don't you have any clothes besides your uniform?"

"I do," Blaine protested. "You know – a few things here and there."

Kurt shook his head. "Why on earth would you wear your school uniform during a weekend?"

"It's so much easier than having to pick out what you're going to wear every single day," Blaine countered. "Trust me, I know – I attended public school for some time."

Kurt's hands flew to his hips and the other boy outright glared at him. Well – that was more than slightly scary in Blaine's opinion.

"Let me ask you a question, Blaine – were you planning on asking me out after this?"

Blaine stared at Kurt disbelievingly. Out of all the questions he'd expected, this hadn't been it. Kurt's bluntness was definitely something he'd have to get used to.

"Yes?" he replied hesitantly.

"And did you expect me to accept that offer?" Kurt demanded.

This was an awkward situation – to Blaine at least. "I was hoping you would," he answered.

Kurt's facial features visibly relaxed, and he folded his arms. "Well then," he said, "you'd have to lose the uniform first, and we'd have to find some clothes for you to wear. As good as that school uniform looks on you, it's simply not an acceptable clothing choice for a date."

"I know that," Blaine assured him. "I'm gay as well, remember?"

Kurt smiled slightly. "Good. Then I see no reason why I shouldn't go on a date with you."

Blaine was sure that the resulting happy grin didn't leave his face until much, much later.

* * *

**A/N**: So, what do you think of the chapter/story? Tell me your thoughts/comments/questions/prompts/anything else, please leave a review! :D


	12. The Rhodes not taken

**A/N**: So... here's another hospital scene, but with sort of reversed roles - only sort of ;) I don't have a lot of experience with hospitals (and none at all with American ones), and the only thing I could base this on was 15 seasons of _ER_, and an internet search for treatment of alcohol poisoning. I also have zero experience with alcohol, so I'm not quite sure how the mind of a drunk person functions, or how the sobering up process goes :P I apologise if there's anything here that seems/is weird. Feel free to point it out :) Anyway, this was requested (some time ago, I'm guessing) by _LivAndLetDie_, so I hope it lives up to your expectations :)  
As always, send in all the prompts you can think of (if you feel like it, that is). Oh, and: when singing a solo, do you think Kurt would go for a love song about a girl, a song with vague religious connotations, or neither? I'm stuck there :S

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to leave a review! :)

* * *

Kurt barely knew what was happening, but he was feeling incredibly nauseous. He could vaguely make out the outline of a person sitting next to him, and as they hit a bump in the road, he realised with a start that he was in a car. That didn't make him any less nauseous, sadly enough. If anything, he felt sicker than he'd felt in years.

He had no idea as to how he had ended up here – at one moment, he was preparing for school, perhaps taking a little too much liquid courage than was good for him, and the next, he was here. And he knew he wasn't on his way to school, because he was lying down, and his dad never let him lie down in the car (as if he ever wanted to). Plus, this wasn't even his baby, but… it wasn't a normal car. There was only a small window and… even though he was completely out of it, Kurt's eyes widened at the realisation that he was in an ambulance.

His head hurt too much for him to sit up and demand that they let him go, so instead, Kurt kept eyeing the dirty ceiling of the car. What had happened? He didn't remember a thing, and what he remembered didn't make any sense. Something about Bambi and then… an awful smell. Now that he thought about it, there was a foul taste in his mouth that reminded him of those few instances when he'd contracted the flu…

"Kurt? Are you awake?"

Oh, great. He'd barfed all over the guidance counsellor. Who was the biggest clean freak he had ever met. It all came back to him now.

He couldn't exactly form the words to respond, so he just groaned. He felt horrible already, and he vowed to never drink again. It wasn't worth it.

"We're almost at the Emergency Room," Ms Pillsbury told him, and Kurt felt himself pale even more. Ambulance. Emergency Room. Hospital. He was underage, so that meant that they were going to call his dad. If anything, that was the thing he dreaded most. He could sit through the treatment and the patronising stares and comments of the doctors or the nurses, but his father… that was entirely different.

He knew that his father didn't think of him being a disappointment because he was gay, but as soon as his dad would hear about him drinking so much he had to be brought to the ER… he wouldn't be happy.

To top it all off, all this thinking made his head hurt even more. And he was also still nauseous. Perfect.

When they arrived, Kurt just closed his eyes and let it all happen – the getting him out of the ambulance (he could walk, he figured, but he knew they probably wouldn't allow him to) and into the hospital, then into a room.

They did all kinds of tests on him while he could see Ms Pillsbury getting decontamination showers for her feet out of the corner of his eye. He felt pretty bad for her (but worse for himself, if he was completely honest. He felt like crap right now) now that he was sobering up a bit. Still, he couldn't bring himself to answer all the questions the doctor and the nurses asked (most importantly, who had given him the booze, but also whether this was his first experience with alcohol (yes) and why he'd gotten drunk in the first place).

In the end, they hooked him up to an IV and sat him on a bed in the hallway, for it was a rather busy day at the ER and they needed the room. Kurt didn't mind all too much; he could spend hours watching people and judging them for their fashion sense. They hadn't been able to reach his father yet (for which he was thankful to whatever higher being he didn't expect there to be), but Ms Pillsbury had promised to try to contact him as well as soon as she got back to school. After she had been cleaned sufficiently, she had proposed to stay at the ER until Kurt's father arrived, but in the end, she had left anyway.

Kurt had no idea what time it was by now, but he must've missed at least half the school day already. Maybe he could be back in time for Glee – although, his dad would probably take him home immediately. He wasn't sure if that was a comforting thought or not, as he had no idea how to deal with his father's disappointment.

"Hey," he suddenly heard from right in front of him, "are you okay?"

Groggily, Kurt looked up and stared at the boy sitting on a bed against the opposite wall. "I'm fine," he managed to choke out, clutching the pole his IV bag was on. "Are you?" he asked, frowning. The boy had two black eyes, and his left arm was in a cast. "What happened?"

The boy winced. "I'm fine. It's nothing."

"No, it's not nothing," Kurt told him, though his words sounded a little slurred.

"Are you _drunk_?" the boy asked, sounding a little too amused for Kurt's liking.

"What's it to you?" he snapped back. "So what if I am?"

The boy tried, but failed, to hide a smile. "No offense, but… you look like you're twelve."

Kurt huffed. "I'm not twelve! I'm sixteen years old, I'll have you know."

Now, the boy smiled again, but, Kurt hoped, no longer to humour him. "So am I! But, seriously, why did you get drunk in the middle of the day?"

Kurt leered at him. "I'll tell you my story if you tell me yours," he said after a moment.

The boy looked doubtful, but in the end, he replied, "Alright. That's sounds fair. I'm Blaine, by the way."

"I'm Kurt." He was silent for a few seconds before telling Blaine what had caused him to get so drunk. He didn't want to tell the whole story, but this guy seemed alright. Plus, what were the odds that they were ever going to meet again? "I get bullied at school," he announced bluntly, and the other boy's eyes (as bruised as they were) widened slightly. "I just… came out, so now the bullying is even worse than before. There's this new woman at school – she pretends to be a student but she's actually twice as old as us. She told me that… after drinking some of the stuff she gave me, I'd be fully confident to be myself." He sighed and stared at his IV bag. He was starting to get dizzy again. "I guess I shouldn't have drunk the entire bottle at once this morning."

Looking at Blaine again, he noticed that the other boy finally looked a little sympathetic, instead of just amused. Now that Kurt looked closer, he thought that maybe, Blaine had had a bloody nose as well at some point.

"So I went to school," he continued, "and the guidance counsellor started talking to me and… I don't know. I said something about Bambi and vomited. She must've called an ambulance after that, but I don't exactly remember."

"I'm sorry," Blaine promptly said. "I mean," he added as Kurt eyed him oddly, "I know what it's like. The bullying part, not the getting drunk part." He swallowed and glanced around. "I get bullied at my school as well – that wasn't always the case, only after I came out five or six months ago."

Kurt stared at him as the other boy looked down at his hands. "You're gay?" he asked somewhat stupidly. "I really wouldn't have guessed… but – never mind." Now Kurt ducked his head as well.

"Yeah, I am," Blaine replied quietly. "Shortly after coming out, I got beat up at the end of a school dance, but after that, it was mostly verbal abuse."

"That's awful," Kurt breathed. "I mean – those words aren't really nice either."

"I had a friend who's gay as well," Blaine told him. "Yeah, I know – we weren't really each other's type or anything, so we were just friends. But he moved away this summer, so now they're… focussing on me."

It was almost miraculous how sobered up Kurt felt right now. "Where do you go to school?" he asked, suddenly curious.

"Lima High," Blaine replied, rolling his eyes. "It seriously sucks. My mum wanted to pull me out and enrol me in a private school after that dance, but my dad resisted. Maybe this will change his mind."

The boy looked almost frightened and frustrated at the same time, Kurt noted. Knowing it would possibly bring about another wave of nausea, he carefully hopped off of the bed, grabbed the pole of his IV and ambled over to the opposite bed. As he climbed onto the bed, he pretended not to notice the odd looks he received from a passing visitor and from Blaine himself. As soon as he was sitting firmly on the bed and his stomach wasn't acting up anymore, he hesitantly patted Blaine's shoulder.

"It'll be okay," he said quietly. "If it's really this bad, I'm sure your dad will come around."

"I hope so," Blaine sighed. "Have you heard of Dalton Academy in Westerville? It's a private all boys school with a no bullying policy."

Kurt raised his eyebrows. "Those schools actually exist?"

"Apparently," Blaine responded. "Sounds amazing, don't you think?"

"Sounds surreal," Kurt corrected him. "But it'll be good. For you, I mean. At least you'd be safe there."

"This was the first time they physically attacked me after that dance at the end of last school year," Blaine told him. "It was way worse back then, but… I feel like they'll do it more often now if I don't get away. I… just don't feel safe anymore at that school, Kurt."

"It's okay," Kurt tried to soothe him. He had no idea what he should do, but he felt like he had to do _something_. So he wrapped his arm around Blaine's right shoulder and patted his leg with his other hand. It was a little awkward, especially since they'd only met barely half an hour before, but he didn't have any better ideas. "That's – perfectly understandable. Nobody deserves to be treated like that, Blaine, and nobody blames you for being afraid. Something would be really wrong with you if you weren't scared after what those bullies did to you."

Burying his face into Kurt's shoulder, Blaine muttered, "I'm sorry, Kurt, for dumping all this on you – "

"Don't be ridiculous," Kurt interrupted him. "It's perfectly fine."

"You don't seem so drunk anymore," Blaine commented, his voice still muffled.

"That's what talking about this kind of stuff does to me." It was pretty intriguing that Blaine obviously felt comfortable enough around Kurt to sit there with him like this. Then again, Blaine was gay as well, and not straight and afraid to 'catch the gay' from him. It felt nice, even though they were in a hallway in the ER of Lima's only hospital after some life changing experiences.

They were interrupted when a nurse approached them, followed by a woman who Kurt assumed to be Blaine's mother. Sure enough, she started fussing over the boy immediately, asking if he was alright and telling him how she wouldn't let him return to that school ever again.

Before he knew it, and before he could even say something ('goodbye' seemed like a valid option here), the nurse ushered both Blaine and his mother into an open room, leaving Kurt by himself. He slipped off of the bed and walked back towards his 'own' bed, where his coat and bag were still lying. He had barely made himself somewhat comfortable when another nurse came towards him, followed by his father, who looked somewhere in between incredibly angry that Kurt had been drinking and immensely relieved that he was alright.

Kurt grimaced. This wasn't going to be pretty.

* * *

**A/N**: Well, what do you think? :) The Burt-Kurt confrontation is something for another (type of) story, methinks. Anyway, let me know what you thought, please review!


	13. Sexy

**A/N**: This was the chapter I think I promised you in chapter 10; longer than any other chapter (now, at least; I have no idea what's going to happen in the future), but not prompted. It just entered my head and wouldn't leave :( So, I hope you like it anyway :)  
There are a couple of POV changes in here, though most of the chapter is from Rachel's POV; please let me know if there's anything that doesn't seem right, I'm not sure if I can do Rachel justice. I'm aware that there are also a few things here that may not have happened like this if Kurt hadn't transferred, but I hope it's not too big of a problem. The biggest issue, I think, is the fact that the Warblers _do_ sing _Animal_ here, but I realised that only after writing a certain Warbler scene that wouldn't make sense if they didn't sing the song.  
I'm also still taking prompts, so if you have any, don't hesitate to send them in; I figured I may as well take looser prompts as well (and with that, I mean prompts that aren't necessarily linked to a certain episode, but that I should be able to fit in somewhere (like, Blaine falls off of something during/before their first meeting, or spills coffee over Kurt, or something like that)), so let me know if you have some :)

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom! :)

* * *

Jeff grumbled as Blaine sat down next to him. "Did _you_ call the emergency meeting again?" he asked, looking as if he'd rather still be in his bed. Blaine felt the same way – the council didn't seem to be entirely aware of the fact that most members didn't want to attend Warbler meetings at 6:30 in the morning. How did they even get away with that?

"Nope, wasn't me this time," Blaine replied, yawning.

Nick sat down at Jeff's other side. "'m so tired," he muttered almost incomprehensibly.

Jeff and Nick continued their angry conversation (if it could be called that when both boys didn't even register more than half of the words the other said) and Blaine glanced at the council table. He wasn't surprised to see that the three council members looked happy, chipper, and, most importantly, wide awake.

Blaine yearned for coffee, but alas, there had been no time for his caffeine fix so far this morning.

Wes slammed his gavel down at the table, causing all the Warblers to actually jump in their seats – many boys had just fallen back asleep on the comfortable couches. Hm. Blaine wondered why he noticed their comfortableness only now. He prodded the couch with great interest, not hearing what Wes was announcing to the group. Oh well. If they gave him hell about not paying attention, he'd just say he was up late last night, practising their songs for Regionals.

It was only when he heard the word 'sexy' that he looked up from the couch. "What?" he asked tiredly.

"Ah, Blaine, thank you for joining us." Blaine swore Thad was glaring at him from behind the council table, so he recoiled slightly.

"As Wes just said," David repeated quickly, "we got an anonymous note that the judges at Regionals will pay special attention to how sexy the performance are going to be. According to the note, New Directions already has a head start, so we definitely need to work on that. Regionals is in a week, after all."

"So you don't know who sent it?" Blaine asked tiredly. David and Wes both shook their heads.

"No idea," Wes confirmed.

"But what if – what if it's a joke?" Trent asked from… well, wherever he was. Blaine couldn't be bothered to muster up the energy to look around. "What if the judges at Regionals don't want us to be sexy at all, and New Directions sent that note to make sure we won't win?"

The three council members exchanged a few looks and whispers. "We'll figure something out," Wes said. "Now – meeting dismissed!"

Blaine glared at him. Did they really have to get out of bed so early for such a short meeting about something that could've been dealt with in the regular meeting, later today, as well? Ugh. His friends were awful sometimes. Not that he would ever tell them, of course. He cherished his lead soloist position too much for that.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Kurt! You have to help me!" Rolling his eyes, Kurt looked up from his locker and indeed, right in front of him was the small, insufferable diva otherwise known as Rachel Berry.

"No, Rachel," he responded, almost bored. He knew, after all, what she was about to ask him. "I'm not going to help you win Finn back. I didn't plan on doing that the first time you asked, so why would now be different?"

Rachel huffed, seemingly offended. "I'm doing just _fine_ without Finn, I'll have you know," she told him, but even if Kurt hadn't been subjected to Rachel's endless monologues about how she and Finn were made for each other, he would've known that she was lying. "No, I need to ask you a favour. See, I need to infiltrate the Crawford Country Day school tomorrow and I thought – "

"The _what_ school?" Kurt asked, completely baffled. "Rachel, they aren't even our competition! Why would you want to infiltrate there?"

Rachel looked around and moved a little closer to him, whispering conspiringly, "Rumour has it – alright, I read it while Facebook stalking them – that the Dalton Academy Warblers are giving a select group of Crawford Country Day girls – they're their sister school, you know – a performance that has to do with Regionals. It's a perfect opportunity to see what the Warblers are up to! But I need to sneak into the girls' school first, and then convince them to take me along – that shouldn't be much of a problem – so I need something that looks like the uniform!"

Kurt shook his head. "There's no way anyone could just copy a private school uniform. Can't you just ask one of those girls to let you tag along for a day because you're thinking of transferring?"

Rachel grinned maniacally. "I knew it was a good idea to ask you for help. Thanks, Kurt! I'll see you later!"

"Can't wait," Kurt replied in a bored tone that suggested (but she couldn't prove anything – man, he was becoming more and more like coach Sylvester every day, it seemed) that he'd rather not they'd meet again.

Needless to say, there was no way Rachel was going to let that happen. Kurt sighed when he got a text message not two minutes later, wherein she asked him (pleasantly, but also very, very urgently) to help her anyway, namely by picking her up in Westerville after the performance. Kurt sighed. The things he did for Glee club…

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

After telling her fathers an elaborate, exaggerated story (her specialty) about the Warblers' horrifying spying history (for which she mostly used her own experiences as a spy), they agreed to let her do what was best for the Glee club – but if she got in trouble with the school because of it, it was all her call. They wouldn't defend her.

Now she knew that _that_ was a lie (she'd gotten away with worse things), but she couldn't dwell on it for too long. She needed to get ready for her mission.

She ended up catching a bus (well, a couple of them) to Westerville, thanking God that she could get to the school before the first period started. She was also glad that Kurt had agreed to pick her up afterwards – buses were far from her favourite method of travelling. But she hadn't wanted to ask Kurt to bring her as well. It was a two hour drive, four hours if you included the trip back as well, and with Kurt's skincare routine, he would've had to get up in the middle of the night for that.

Rachel was devoted to Glee, but even she could sense that that was a little over the top.

The private school was, luckily, only a short distance away from the bus stop, and Rachel took a few seconds to take it all in. It was everything she had ever imagined a private school to be – an old building, but still in very good state, and not really looking like a _school_ at all. Expensive, elitist, strict, and, in general, a (most likely) far better respected school than McKinley High could ever dream to be.

A couple of girls passed her on their way in, and Rachel followed them quickly. She didn't actually have an appointment, but she hoped that, for once, the people in charge would overlook that small, small fact.

"Excuse me?" Rachel turned around as she felt someone enter her personal bubble and indeed, one of the girls standing behind her had an arm outstretched, as if about to tap Rachel's shoulder. "What are you doing here?"

Being the great actress that she was, Rachel widened her eyes dramatically (but not too much – she didn't want to scare these girls away, after all). She looked down at the floor and then back at the girls. "I – am Rachel Berry," she introduced herself with a bright smile, even though they hadn't even asked for her name. "I'm considering transferring to Crawford Country Day, and I was wondering if I could tag along with someone today, to see what this school is like."

The four girls exchanged glances, then turned back to Rachel. "Does the faculty know you're here?" the same girl asked her, and Rachel shook her head.

"No, I'm afraid they don't. I realised too late that I had to make an appointment, and today was the only day – "

"Oh, that's fine," another girl, a tall blonde, said, waving her hand. "We'll just tell the teachers that you're a personal friend and they won't make a big deal out of it."

Now, Rachel's eyes widened without her instigating this movement herself. "Really?" she asked, slightly surprised. "You would do that?"

"Sure," the blond girl replied, grinning widely. "It's about time we did something… adventurous."

Rachel grinned back happily. These girls were much nicer than anyone she had ever encountered at McKinley. Another girl snorted, however.

"In case you'd forgotten, Ella, we're also skipping our last period to see the Warblers." The girl rolled her eyes, and Rachel had to forcefully keep herself from grinning ever wider. It seemed that she'd really won the jackpot. "Wouldn't you call that adventurous?"

Before the blonde – Ella? – could reply, Rachel hastily asked, "Warblers? You're going bird-watching?"

Oh, she really was an amazing actress, if she said so herself.

"No, the Warblers are the Dalton Academy a cappella show choir. We're their sister school," the final girl explained. "They asked some of us to come to watch and judge their performance this afternoon, something about an upcoming competition."

"Oh, that sounds nice," Rachel commented. "But… shouldn't you – I mean, we – get to class?"

"Right," the first girl said. "Anyway, since Ella already invited you, why don't you tag along for the day? You said your name was Rachel, right? I'm Lindsay. You've already met Ella – though her actual name is Eileen – and this is Katherine, and Juliette."

"Nice to meet you all," Rachel said, smiling.

This time, she wasn't faking it.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The classes, Rachel noticed soon, were a lot harder than they were at McKinley. For once, she was glad that it was time for lunch. The small group she had followed around was quickly joined by more girls, all of whom, Rachel learned, were going to the Warblers' performance later; once again, it was Ella who invited Rachel along, and Rachel couldn't say yes hastily enough.

When the moment of truth was finally there, the girls managed to get out of the school and into their cars quietly, but efficiently. It turned out that they had already figured out how many cars they would need and who would drive. Rachel took the short time it took to get to the place where the Warblers would show off their talents to text Kurt the precise location.

"Who're you texting?" Lindsay asked curiously. "Your boyfriend?" A moment later, she groaned, putting her head in her hands. "I'm sorry, Rachel. I didn't mean to be so nosy."

Rachel wasn't exactly used to people being this polite, but she didn't mind at all. "No, that's alright," she replied. "I'm texting my friend who's coming to pick me up afterwards – I hope you don't mind me leaving before dinner, but he couldn't come by later."

"Oh, that's absolutely no problem at all," Ella said happily. "Do you have many male friends?"

She actually looked interested – during the day, Rachel had come to realise that a lot of these girls didn't hang out with boys on a very regular basis. "Not really," she responded, wondering if she could actually legitimately call Kurt a friend, much less the other Glee guys. Puck, maybe, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to be associated with everything he got up to.

After that, silence took over the car, but soon, they were there. Rachel eyed the building (which looked like a deserted factory to her) with a frown.

"Are you sure it's safe to go in?" she asked Juliette, who was standing next to her.

"Not really," the other girl replied, biting her lip.

"Come on, you guys!" Ella shouted at them from a distance. She disappeared inside, and Rachel looked at Juliette again.

"Now we kind of have to, don't we?"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Rachel was impressed. The Warblers didn't just stand there, occasionally jumping from one foot to the other while the lead vocalist tried to capture the audience's attention with his odd dance moves and facial expressions, no – they jumped around and danced as well while all harmonising. The lead was sung by the same guy who'd sung at Sectionals, and even though his voice didn't fit the song (called _Animal_, apparently, but Rachel hadn't heard it before) all the time, it was still a great performance – although Rachel wasn't quite sure what to think of the foam cannon. Oh well – it was fun.

When the song was done, Rachel excused herself – Kurt was probably outside already, waiting for her, and she didn't want to overstay her welcome. Or maybe she just didn't want to be recognised by one of the Warblers. She couldn't help but overhear part of a conversation between a couple of girls and the Warblers' lead singer, though, and she smirked to herself. That information might come in handy at some undetermined moment in the (perhaps very near?) future.

Arriving outside, Rachel spotted Kurt easily – among all the sleek cars the Dalton and Crawford students drove in, his huge car stood out enormously. Just like Kurt himself, naturally, so he was fairly hard to miss as he was leaning against the car.

"Hey!" she greeted him happily, hugging him quickly (she didn't know if he appreciated that, but this was not the time to dwell on things like that). "Thanks for picking me up! My dads are both working now so they didn't have time. Shall we go?"

Kurt stared at the building she'd just come out off. "Was it worth it?" he asked, also glancing at the students of both private schools that emerged from the hall.

Rachel grinned widely. "Yes, it was. Oh! Did you know that the Warblers' lead singer is gay?" Kurt just raised an eyebrow at her, obviously wondering why she mentioned this. "A couple of girls tried to give him their numbers after they were done, but he said he wasn't on their team."

"And what am I supposed to do with that news?" Kurt asked, still confused. "In case you forgot, he's the competition. Besides – I don't even know him and who's to say he's even single? And – "

"Regionals is next week," Rachel said happily. "After that, they're no longer our competition. And we all want you to be happy, Kurt."

"What about the performance?" Kurt asked after a few seconds, clearly eager to change the subject. "Anything special?"

Rachel nodded earnestly. "They added a whole lot of choreography to their performance. Granted, I doubt that they'll bring a foam cannon to Regionals, but even without that, they've loosened up a bit since Sectionals. And their vocals are still great."

Kurt appeared to have some trouble wrapping his mind around the fact that the Warblers had, indeed, used a foam cannon today. "A foam cannon? That's… pretty gay," he told her carefully. "And that's coming from _me_."

Rachel waved it off. "Yeah, well. Doesn't concern us, does it? There was something weird about it, though… they kept saying that they wanted to be… more sexy for Regionals. I wonder why?"

Kurt frowned. "Sexy? Since when do we have to be sexy for Regionals?" Rachel had no idea either. "I don't even know how to be sexy!" Kurt continued frantically. "I – "

"Just be yourself," Rachel interrupted him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You'll be fine. If you can just be yourself and have fun, you'll be plenty sexy." He seemed doubtful, so Rachel continued, "I just don't get why they feel that they have to be sexy for Regionals. I wonder who told them _that_."

"It's also a little… suspect, that they're suddenly trying to be sexy, only _days_ after Mr Schue tried to give us some sexual education," Kurt mused, before he seemed to realise something.

Rachel had, however, also caught on by now. "Didn't he write 'sexy' on the board?" she asked, but before Kurt could reply, she added, "You think coach Sylvester is behind this?"

"Who else could it be?"

The two didn't have anymore time to discuss the matter any further, as most of the private school girls suddenly joined them. Rachel would've expected them to either go back to their school (they had snuck out, after all) or hang out with the Warblers afterwards, but clearly, they had other plans.

"Hey, Rachel," a girl named Lisette greeted her. "Where'd you go so quickly? I swear, one moment you were there, and the next, you were gone!"

Rachel plastered a smile onto her face. "I asked Kurt here to come pick me up afterwards, but the show was a bit longer than I expected, and I didn't want him to have to wait for too long." She shrugged a bit as the girls just smiled and introduced themselves to Kurt.

"So Rachel, what do you think?" one of the other girls asked, and Rachel grinned widely.

"It was great! They were pretty good!" She continued gushing for another half a minute before Kurt interrupted her.

"Rachel, I don't think they were talking about the _performance_," he said slowly, smiling a little uneasily.

Right. Rachel had almost forgotten about the fact that she had only managed to get in because she had pretended to be interested in attending the all-girls private school.

"That was great too!" she quickly improvised. "Everyone was very nice, and the curriculum – it's really challenging, Kurt!"

"Plus," Kurt added, "the uniform looks more fashionable than what you usually wear, so that's good as well. Which is actually odd, because uniforms aren't normally fashionable at all, so that really says something about your clothing choice," he added, eyeing the girls – or well, eyeing their uniforms, because the words 'Kurt', 'eyeing' and 'girls' could never be found in the same sentence.

Although – when Rachel looked a little closer at some of them, it certainly appeared that some of the _girls_ were eyeing _Kurt_. Huh. Apparently not everyone had such an excellent gay-dar as Rachel herself had. But then again – some of these girls were hardly ever around guys at all.

"Do you think you'll be transferring?" Katherine asked Rachel, smiling kindly.

Rachel smiled back. Was it strange that part of her actually _did_ want to transfer? There was no way she could get distracted by boys at their school, and the other girls were nice to her, unlike most people at McKinley. Then again – this school was all about unity and uniformity. She wouldn't be able to express and develop herself the way she did at McKinley and she wasn't sure if she could live like that.

"I'll have to think about it," she replied in the end. "If I do, you'll see me again soon."

Kurt pressed his lips together at that and she had a vague idea of what he might be thinking – if they would come to support the Warblers at Regionals, they'd see her as well – but she chose to ignore it.

She had thought that they would be leaving by now, but the girls didn't let them go just yet. They started talking (or was it more like flirting? Rachel wasn't sure) with Kurt, and with her as well. Some of the girls, however, said their goodbyes pretty quickly and walked off (towards where, Rachel didn't know), seeming disappointed when Kurt had affirmed that yes, he was definitely gay. He actually looked baffled that they even had to ask.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Blaine was standing in the parking lot with some other Warblers, talking about the performance. From what he'd gathered, the performance had been a success – the Warblers had proven to be sexy when they wanted to be.

A group of Crawford girls approached the group, which surprised him. He hadn't expected them to loiter, but then he spotted another group of girls standing a short distance away. Only then did he realise why the girls were here specifically – they were chattering swiftly and quietly with Nick's girlfriend, who hadn't let go of her boyfriend's arm since the performance was over.

Suddenly one of the girls exclaimed, "Why do all the hot ones have to be gay?" She sounded fairly miserable, and another girl patted her arm consolingly. Blaine recognised the two girls as the ones who'd tried to give him their numbers after the song.

It was only when Nick and David looked positively scandalised and offended when Blaine realised that he had just been complimented. In some weird way, but it was a compliment nevertheless.

Wes, however, smirked at him, and nothing good could come from that. Blaine had learned that the hard way a long time ago. "So there's another 'hot gay guy' around here?" he asked the girls, but never taking his eyes off of Blaine. Grinning, he told his friend, "Well, what are you waiting for, Blaine?"

Catching on, David asked, "Yeah, don't you feel the chemicals kicking in?"

Nick was almost rolling over the ground laughing already (much to his girlfriend's annoyance), but Jeff happily continued, "I think he'd rather run and hide, though."

Rolling his eyes, Blaine asked the first girl, "Who are you talking about?"

The girl just looked more miserable than before, so her friend answered for her. "Some friend of Rachel's – you know, the girl who was checking our school out today and wanted to see you perform? He came to pick her up, they're over there." With that, she pointed in the general direction of the other group of girls. Apparently, there was supposed to be a boy somewhere among them. Blaine wasn't sure if he wanted to risk his life by going in there.

"If you don't go, you won't sleep tonight, Blaine," Nick managed to hiccup, still laughing, but back on his feet at last.

Blaine glared at his friends (although – friends? These people weren't his _friends_! What was he thinking?), but then, Wes grabbed him by the arm and dragged him off.

"Come on," he said, "we'll all go talk to them if you're afraid to go alone. Who knows, maybe we could recruit him for Dalton, if his friend wants to transfer to Crawford…"

The girls saw them coming and turned around, and that was when Blaine saw him – the 'hot gay guy' the girls had been talking about. And well, he had to admit that they were right. He wasn't blond or very tall (though still taller than Blaine himself, but only slightly) nor did he seem older than Blaine – those were the things Blaine figured he was looking for in a guy. They had applied to Jeremiah, so that was his… type, right? So _this_ guy right here wasn't his type at all.

But why did it feel like he was?

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Oh God, here they come," Rachel mumbled as she saw the Warblers approaching them, and she felt Kurt stiffen next to her. The other girls were quietly watching the Warblers as well, so they didn't notice that both Rachel and Kurt had gone around three shades paler than they'd been before.

"We're in _so_ much trouble now," Kurt breathed. Apparently he was being too loud, as one of the guys blinked at him.

"What do you mean, in trouble?" he asked, and now, everyone was staring at them.

Rachel snickered quietly as she saw that the lead Warbler only had eyes for Kurt and didn't even bother hiding it. Not that Kurt noticed – he was far too preoccupied by the fact that they were about to get caught (even though Rachel was technically the only one who'd done anything wrong).

"I mean," he started, and Rachel could almost hear him think, "that we are going to be in big trouble with our parents if we don't go now."

"Yeah," Rachel quickly took over, "they expect us to be home soon, so we can't afford to stall any longer. Well, it was nice meeting all of you, but we really, _really_ should leave."

Before they could even _move_, two Warblers practically shoved their lead singer forward, sending him flying towards Kurt, who barely had time to react – not that that mattered, because he was frozen to the spot. Until, of course, the other boy bumped into him, causing them both to fall down.

"Hey," one of them, an Asian boy, said happily. "This is Blaine, our lead vocalist. Did anyone mention he's gay?"

Rachel could only stare. From what she'd seen at Crawford Country Day, she hadn't expected the boys from Dalton to be so… odd. So weirdly enthusiastic. The only girl who'd vaguely seemed this impulsive was Ella, and she really stood out at her school. At Dalton, it seemed almost normal, if these boys were anything to go by.

By now, Kurt and the lead Warbler – Blaine, apparently – had got back up and Kurt was dusting himself off while the somewhat shorter boy was showering him with apologies, even though it wasn't even his fault. Still, Kurt was muttering profanities under his breath, most likely directed at the other Warblers, but at the same time, he seemed to be trying to let the dark haired boy in front of him know that in no way he was blaming him.

In the end, Rachel replied, "Yeah, I told him." She wasn't sure if they heard her – they seemed more interested in the progress their lead singer was making. The girls had left, by now, but they had to go back to make it to dinner in time. "Oh – and this is Kurt, our countertenor. He's gay as well."

Now she had their attention, although for once, she wished she hadn't. "Rachel," Kurt hissed at her, clearly displeased at how she had managed to give them away like that. She only smiled sheepishly in return.

"You're a countertenor?" Blaine asked, sounding in awe. "That's amazing! Do you – "

"Did you say _our_ countertenor?" a blond Warbler asked, frowning confusedly. "_Whose_ countertenor?"

"I – " Rachel started, but she didn't get any further as Kurt interrupted her again.

"She said that I'm _a_ countertenor," he quickly amended. "That's what she meant. You know – not that I… sing a lot." As it turned out, Kurt was a great actor as well. Of course, Rachel could've seen this coming – the two of them were almost too alike for it to be healthy.

"What did you say your name was?" the Asian boy asked her, and after she'd replied, he exchanged glances with the dark boy next to him.

"Sounds familiar," the other boy commented, and he looked back at her.

Rachel felt like grinning; her fame was already spreading throughout Ohio. Kurt, however, didn't appear to share her glee.

"Yes, well – we should really go." At that moment though, a ringtone cut through their conversation and Kurt, once more, muttered angrily under his breath as he extracted the phone from his bag. "Of course, _now_ she has to text me," he said scathingly as he scanned over the message.

The damage seemed to be done, however. Although Rachel admired Kurt's choice of setting different ringtones according to the person who called or texted, and using their own songs for the Glee club members, this meant that when Santana just texted him for some reason or another, _Valerie_ (Santana's version) had boomed across the parking lot for a couple of seconds.

_Valerie_, the song that she had sung at Sectionals. Where they competed against the Warblers. Who also seemed to realise that now. Well, damn it.

(Still, Rachel planned on calling Kurt when they were in the car, just to see which ringtone he'd set for her. Maybe it was their duet? Or _Don't rain on my parade_? She was basically exploding from curiosity now.)

After the surprise had worn off, though, the Warblers just looked very amused. "Is New Directions really that desperate to find out what we're up to that they had you infiltrate our _sister school_ and watch us perform that way?" the dark boy asked, clearly trying to fight back a smile.

"She chose to do this herself," Kurt replied quickly. "She's done stranger things to find out what the competition is doing."

Rachel huffed. "Oh yeah?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow at her. "You went through the dumpsters near the Carmel auditorium last year to find out what Vocal Adrenaline was up to at the time. Sneaking into an all-girls private school is much cleaner than that."

True enough, the boys looked a little disgusted at Rachel's previous actions, but she didn't let that bother her. "You weren't exactly hiding it," she huffed. "It was all over Facebook!"

"Oh, that's where I know you from," a brown haired boy who hadn't spoken up until now said all of a sudden. "You're my number one Facebook stalker, yet I had no idea who you were. It's nice to be able to put a face to the name, you know, since your profile is completely private."

All the other boys were now nodding in realisation and recognition, and Rachel could just feel Kurt staring at her incredulously – he probably wished he had come up with such a _brilliant_ strategy.

"Still, wouldn't it be easier to let _him_ spy on us at Dalton?" the Asian boy asked, and Rachel realised only now that the lead singer had been suspiciously quiet ever since he'd praised Kurt for being a countertenor.

"Kurt doesn't blend in well," she immediately responded. "Neither do I, of course, but – don't you think he wouldn't stand out at your school, even if he wore a uniform?" She directed the question at the lead singer, but he was staring intently at Kurt. Slightly alarmed, she turned to glance at Kurt. Who was staring right back, blushing lightly.

Wait. That wasn't good. If the competition wanted to fall for one of them, that was completely fine. But the other way around – not good. At all. In fact, it was disastrous. Especially now.

"We're going," she decided. "For real now. Come on, Kurt, let's go. Get in the car." She almost pushed a (for once) softly protesting Kurt towards the driver's seat, also effectively breaking the spell the lead Warbler seemed to be under. "As for you lot, we'll see you next week at Regionals. Try not to cry when we beat you."

With that, she got into the car as well, and soon, they were on the road, leaving some baffled Warblers behind them.

(When she called Kurt, her ringtone turned out to be _My headband_. He snickered at her shocked reaction to this, but then promised to change it to something better after Regionals.)

* * *

**A/N**: So... what do you think? I hope you liked it :) Let me know if you have any thoughts/questions/comments/prompts - please review!  
(and, it might be a while before I can put up the next chapter, as I've got some exams coming up :( But I _will_ be back!)


	14. Funk II

**A/N**: I'm sorry it's been two weeks, but to be honest, I expected it to be three weeks before I'd be able to update again, so it's not that bad, right? :)  
Anyway, as you may or may not have noticed, this is another chapter taking place during 'Funk'. This only means... well, exactly that. It's not a sequel to the previous 'Funk' chapter, it's just another take on how Blaine and Kurt could've met during that episode. The same thing goes for any future chapters which will be about episodes that I've already treated before, so keep that in mind.  
The prompt for this was issued by _CaramelFair_ - basically, the Warblers (try to) help Rachel out after she's been egged by Vocal Adrenaline. So this is another Rachel-heavy chapter, and I hope she (or anyone else) isn't completely OOC :S Once again, the POV is a little all over the place in this, but mostly it's Blaine's, or the Warblers' (as a group). And as it's the end of the school year, I didn't just make Wes and David come along, but Thad as well - they _are_ the future council members, after all. And... I think that's it for now :)

Hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom! :)

* * *

Wes didn't even try to cover up his gasp as the group of Warblers watched various members of Vocal Adrenaline chuck raw eggs at the small girl in their midst. Wes' gasp was followed by quiet mutters and some (only slight, of course) cursing, and eventually, when Jesse St James cracked his egg on the girl's forehead, cries of outrage were heard from the uniform clad group.

Not that they were heard by the other kids in the parking lot, as they stood quite a distance away. Therefore, the Dalton boys had no idea what was being said either. They did know one thing, though – throwing eggs at people, especially ten against one, was not cool.

When the Vocal Adrenaline members all got in their (identical) cars, the Warblers started moving. They had planned on doing so before, but they had been held up when they noticed Vocal Adrenaline there, seemingly waiting for something.

"Do you think we should've cut in?" Blaine asked David anxiously as they approached the girl, who was still standing there. If put in her place, Blaine didn't think he'd be able to move for a while either. "We might've been able to stop them…"

"Or they would've thrown eggs at us too," Thad replied, catching up with them. "Vocal Adrenaline is ruthless, we all know that from experience. This year's Sectionals was a nightmare – "

Yes, they all knew that. But none of them had had eggs thrown at them by an opposing team. Wes quickly cut in, appearing at David's other side. "We know they're ruthless, but this was even crueller than before. I never knew they could sink this low…"

By now, they were within hearing distance of the girl. Her face snapped up and the four boys could clearly see the tears – mingled with raw egg – running down her face. Blaine's heart went out to her – he knew, after all, what it was like to be bullied, but thankfully, his former tormentors had never gone as far as to throw food at him like this.

"Who are you?" the girl asked, her voice quivering just slightly. "Are you here to laugh at me? To finish their job?" She held her head up high. "Go ahead. Laugh at me all you want. I can – "

"We're not here to laugh at you," David told her, stepping a little closer to the girl, who was watching them with distrust. "We just… want to help."

"Help?" the girl asked, clearly not believing them. "I don't need your help, I – "

"Let us at least help you get cleaned up," Thad suggested. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say.

"Y-You're just a bunch of perverts," the girl managed to choke out, before turning towards the entrance of the school resolutely.

"We're only trying to help," Wes called after her. Together with David, he stalked after the girl and the boys each grabbed one of her arms. "If it helps, we have a grudge against Vocal Adrenaline as well."

As it turned out, that was an even more wrong thing to say.

"You have a grudge against them as well?" the girl repeated suspiciously. "Does that mean you're a Glee club as well? Are you here to spy on us? Help – "

Wes firmly put one of his hands over her mouth. "We're not here to spy – not really, at least. We – "

The girl started trying to wriggle out of the boys' grasp, and Thad turned to Blaine with a long-suffering sigh. "Please remind me why we always feel like we should jump to everyone's aid, even when they clearly don't want our help?"

Blaine shrugged. "We've been taught too well, I reckon."

When the girl started shouting something about bathrooms and possible nudity, the two boys exchanged weary glances. "So that means we have to help out Wes and David as well, right?" Thad asked. Blaine merely nodded; he didn't like it one bit either.

"Just calm down, would you?" David told the girl firmly, and she glared at him. "We're _not_ trying to see you naked, for God's sake! We have _girlfriends_ – well, most of us do."

"Are there no bathroom stalls in this school?" Thad asked, eyeing the building with obvious discomfort.

Blaine repressed the need to laugh out loud – it was obvious that none of his friends had ever attended public school if their knowledge about this sort of stuff was so limited.

"Of course there are bathroom stalls, Thad, don't be ridiculous," Wes scoffed. "And again," he continued, turning to the girl, "we only want to help you get cleaned up. That's all. We're nice like that, believe it or not."

"And if it really makes you so uncomfortable, we can just send Blaine with you," David added thoughtfully.

"What?" Blaine almost yelped. "Why me?"

David rolled his eyes. "You're gay. She won't have to fear you attempting to sexually assault her in the bathroom or whatever it is she's so afraid of."

The girl huffed. "Well, excuse me for being a little suspicious of four guys acting all chummy when my ex-boyfriend and his teammates just threw eggs at me, knowing that I'm a vegan!"

"You dated Jesse St James?" Blaine asked disbelievingly. "Why?"

The girl just sent him a menacing look, but not as menacing as her previous ones. "Did you say you were the gay one? Fine. Help me out then, if you still feel inclined to do so."

She marched towards the school, and the Warblers hurried after her. As she pushed open the door to the nearest girl's bathroom, she pulled Blaine, whose protests about even going in there went unheard, along and instructed the other three boys, "You three, can you go to the choir room and fetch Kurt? He should have some shampoo we can use."

Wondering why on earth someone would bring _shampoo_ to school (a _public_ school, Thad reminded them), the three boys set off in search for the choir room.

"So this was Rachel?" David asked as they walked through the deserted corridors.

Wes nodded slowly. "It has to be her. She's short, dated Jesse St James, and has an incredible set of lungs."

"Do we know who this Kurt is?" Thad asked, frowning. The other two shook their heads.

"No, we don't," David said unhappily. "The chat rooms I've seen we're all going on and on about Rachel and St James and some guy named Finn… not many other people were mentioned."

"Is this it?" Thad asked, nodding towards the room to their left – the only room they'd come across that still had students in it. "The choir room?"

"Looks like it," Wes muttered. Approaching the room slowly, they were met by a sight that surprised them all. Unlike the Warblers themselves, who, naturally, wore the same uniforms all the time (even now, on their not-really-spying mission), and Vocal Adrenaline, whose members were always recognisable as a group as well, this Glee club appeared to consist of individuals who didn't like to be told what to wear. Everyone looked different, apart from the two cheerleaders in the back.

"Uh, hi," David greeted the group, grinning sheepishly as they stepped inside. "This is the choir room, right?"

The students in the room eyed them apprehensively. "Are you here to spy?" a guy with a Mohawk demanded. "Because if you are, I'm going to – "

"Puck, sit down," the man standing in front of the students told him. So, apparently, New Directions had a director. Most show choirs did, of course, but it was still information worth storing away. "Now, boys – I sincerely hope you're not here to spy on us, as we've had some major issues with Vocal Adrenaline recently. So, who are you and what are you doing here?"

"We were told to fetch Kurt," Thad blurted out. "So… it would be awesome if he would come with us."

The entire group turned towards a boy in a cheerleading uniform they must've overlooked before. "Why?" the boy asked suspiciously. "Who sent you? If it was Azimio and Karofsky, tell them thanks, but no thanks. They've already pushed me around enough for one day, I'd think. I'm not exactly in the mood for more."

"Uh – no," David answered, slightly shocked at the answer they got. "But it was kind of an emergency."

"Then who was it?" the boy asked. "Strando? One of the other football players?"

"Why is everyone at this school so stubborn?" Thad wondered aloud. "Why can't anyone just accept that we only want to help?"

"Short girl, brown hair, previously dated Jesse St James," Wes interrupted Thad – again. "She said she would need your shampoo."

The whole club started talking after that, but at least the boy called Kurt stood up. With a glance at their director, who didn't appear to notice, he grabbed his bag and walked towards the Dalton boys. "Fine," he said, sounding slightly annoyed. "Where is she?"

In the meantime, Blaine was having some major issues with Rachel. The worst one? She kept talking about how big a star she was, how she would lead New Directions to a win at Regionals and, after that, Nationals. How she was going to go to Broadway and astound everyone with her talent – after that, he was slightly ashamed to say he'd stopped listening. The fact that she wouldn't sit still didn't make his attempts to wash the eggs out of her hair any easier.

He sagged down against the opposite wall just as the door opened, and another boy walked in. Said boy didn't seem to have a problem with being in the girl's bathroom; at least, he didn't look freaked out just from being in here.

"Kurt!" Rachel exclaimed. "Finally!"

The boy rolled his eyes. "Rachel," he acknowledged her. Wincing at the state she was in, he added, "Didn't we all tell you that this wasn't going to end well?"

Rachel gave him a sharp retort, but it was lost on Blaine because… holy crap was that a _cheerleading uniform_? From his position on the floor, Blaine had an exceptionally good view of… certain parts of the other boy's body.

Cursing himself silently for letting his dapper façade slip for a moment there, Blaine quickly looked away and caught Rachel's eye instead. The girl was looking at him suspiciously – at least that wasn't new. But could she blame him? He may be gay, but he was still a sixteen year old boy with (at times) raging hormones.

"Oh – " The other boy seemed to notice Blaine sitting on the floor only now. He pulled a face, and for a moment, Blaine was afraid that he'd already made a bad impression. Fortunately for him, that didn't entirely seem to be the case. "Why are you sitting on the floor?" the boy asked, wrinkling his nose in distaste. "Do you know how many times a year they clean the bathroom floors here? I don't, but it doesn't appear to be very often."

Needless to say, Blaine wasted no time getting up. Deciding that he definitely should make up for sitting on the floor, he moved to wash his hands first, before extending his right hand to the boy. "Hi," he greeted him cheerfully. "I'm Blaine. I've been trying to get her to cooperate, but she wouldn't let me help."

"You could be a spy," the girl pointed out. "I don't trust you."

"What would he be spying on if he was helping you wash your hair?" the other boy asked, shaking his head. "Besides, it's not as if he could've made it _worse_." Smiling apologetically, he turned to Blaine and managed to shake his hand before Blaine dropped it. "I'm Kurt," he introduced himself, even though Blaine had already figured that that must be his name. "I'm sorry about Rachel. She's not very good at interacting normally with people."

Ignoring Rachel's indignant reply, Kurt pushed her back on the stool that had been conveniently standing in the corner of the bathroom earlier. As the other boy then walked towards his bag and searched through it, Blaine stood there awkwardly. "Do you still need me here?" he asked, looking from Kurt to Rachel (which, admittedly, wasn't the greatest change of view).

"Actually, yes," came Kurt's reply. "If you don't have anywhere else to be, of course." When Blaine shook his head, Kurt continued, "Could you hold Rachel's shoulders in place then? As you probably already noticed, she doesn't exactly sit still when we need to wash her hair, so a little extra force is needed to make sure she sits still."

This time, Rachel only huffed in response, and Blaine shrugged. He supposed he could do that.

As he set to work, Kurt asked Blaine curiously, "Why _are_ you here, though? You obviously don't go here, so what brings you to McKinley?"

Blaine thought about his reply for a few seconds before answering, "Well – to be honest, we came here to see the Glee club. We weren't spying _per se_, we were just curious."

"Ha! I knew it!" Rachel cried out, but as Kurt threatened to leave her to her own devices, she (fortunately) shut up.

"Curious about the Glee club? That doesn't happen very often," Kurt remarked as he carefully ran his fingers through Rachel's hair to make sure there weren't any dry spots left. "

"Yeah, well," Blaine started, "some friends of mine – the ones who came to get you – are avid followers of what Vocal Adrenaline is up to after they trashed us at Sectionals again this year. Not because they like them, but because they want to be the first to know if anything threatens their position as top show choir of the country."

"So you're in a Glee club as well?" Kurt asked, smiling slightly at him. It took Blaine a couple of seconds to gather his thoughts.

"Yeah, I am," he responded. "I'm in the Warblers, and we're the Glee club of Dalton Academy. It's in Westerville."

"It's a private school?" Kurt asked, eyeing Blaine's blazer.

"Yes, it is." Blaine felt slightly embarrassed to be talking about this here, so he changed the subject swiftly. "Anyway, during David's latest session at the Ohio show choir chat rooms, he came across a message that Vocal Adrenaline might actually lose Regionals this year, and that it was all thanks to a new show choir called New Directions."

Kurt sent him another small smile, but Rachel sighed. "But now that Jesse's back in Vocal Adrenaline, they have more of a chance again."

"That's true," Kurt admitted, a little sullenly – a look Blaine decided he didn't like much on the other boy's face.

What was _wrong_ with him?

"We've been in a funk ever since we found out that Jesse transferred back," Rachel told Blaine. Now that she found out that the Warblers had already been beaten by Vocal Adrenaline and, thus, didn't like them much either, she didn't appear to be so adamant at distrusting him anymore.

"We'll root for you," Blaine promised.

"So you came here to see what exactly we were made of, to be spoken about so highly in the Ohio show choir chat rooms?" Kurt asked a minute later, sounding vaguely amused.

"Pretty much, yeah," Blaine replied. "Though we were hoping to maybe catch you in the middle of a performance, to get an idea of what you're like."

"We feel honoured," Rachel told him. "Ow! Kurt! Be careful, would you? That hurt!" Kurt shrugged, obviously not really caring about Rachel reprimanding him, and the girl frowned. "I'll have you know – oh! Hey! But if you're from Westerville, we might just have to compete against you next year at Sectionals or Regionals! So technically, you _are_ here to spy!"

Blaine sighed. "That's exactly what Wes' angle was," he admitted. "But I'm sure you're not doing anything about your Sectionals set list yet, right? So you're safe."

Kurt snorted. "Considering we haven't even started on our Regionals set list, that's very true."

"Kurt!" Rachel hissed at him. "Don't tell him that! He could use it against us!"

"I'm sure he won't," Kurt told her, rolling his eyes. "And if he does, we'll just tell Puck and Finn and they'll do something about it." Glancing at Blaine, he added, "You know what they did when Vocal Adrenaline TP-ed our choir room a few days ago? They slashed the tires of all their cars."

"I won't use it against you," Blaine said instantly. "I promise." He held up his hands in defence, causing Rachel to start moving again, which caused shampoo to fly all around the bathroom. Kurt frowned, and Blaine hastily grabbed Rachel by the shoulders again and pushed her back against the sink – perhaps a little too forcefully, but neither of the boys paid much attention to that. "We're mostly here to see if the rumours were true," he repeated. "And sure, it might give us an idea of what to expect from you in the future, but I'm sure some of our performances are on YouTube, so not all would be lost for you."

Rachel muttered something – Blaine suspected it had to do with said performances and YouTube – and Kurt started washing the shampoo out of her hair, after making sure that his uniform didn't have any stains on it.

Soon enough, they were done, and Kurt handed Rachel a towel (claiming he'd taken it out of his locker when he heard Rachel was in need of his shampoo – Blaine wondered why someone would have to bring shampoo and a towel to school). "Let's go back to the choir room," he decided when Rachel was done.

"Is he coming too?" Rachel asked as they walked out of the bathroom, nodding at Blaine, who, just to be safe, was walking on Kurt's other side.

"His friends are probably still there as well," was all Kurt said to that.

And indeed, Wes, David and Thad were still there too. They _did_ wish, however, that they could be anywhere but there at the moment. Most of the club was glaring at them, or at least looking at them as if they couldn't be trusted. All they had done was tell them the same story Blaine had told Rachel and Kurt. Needless to say, most of the group shared Rachel's reaction to what could actually be defined as 'Warblers bowing down to New Directions, and putting all their faith in them'.

It wasn't quite the reaction they'd been hoping for.

At least New Directions' director was there, so the group probably wasn't going to attack them.

"What happened to Rachel?" a tall boy suddenly asked out of the blue. As everyone turned to stare at him, he shrugged and said, "They said they saw her at the parking lot and they told Kurt that she needed his help."

Naturally, at that precise moment, the door to the choir room flew open again. "They egged me," Rachel announced with a huff. When everyone went back to glaring daggers at the Dalton boys, she quickly clarified, "Oh, not them. Vocal Adrenaline."

Now that caused an uproar the likes of which none of the Warblers had seen before. A couple of guys – two of whom Blaine suspected to be Puck and Finn – started making war plans to bring Vocal Adrenaline down once and for all. It seemed like they played a lot of computer games, as some of the scenarios turned out a little unrealistic. But Blaine was sure that the boys would easily be hired by a game designer.

When their coach tried to calm them down, Kurt snorted. Looking beside him, Blaine realised that he'd almost forgotten that the other boy was there, which was odd. He raised his eyebrows, and Kurt told him, "A few days ago, he suggested stealing Carmel's school statue to get back at Vocal Adrenaline."

"Your director?" Blaine was shocked. This school was much weirder than the public school he'd attended before coming to Dalton had been. "He's not really setting a great example, is he?"

"We're quite used to that at McKinley," Kurt informed him, shrugging.

Before Blaine could respond to _that_, Wes, David and Thad had quietly made their way over to them. "Should we just… leave?" David asked uncertainly. He glanced at the wild mess at the other side of the room.

Nodding, Blaine turned to Kurt. "Mind showing us back to the parking lot?" he asked, smiling apologetically. "I'm afraid I don't quite remember how to get there."

Plus, it gave him an excuse to talk to Kurt (or hear him talking) for a little longer. But he wasn't about to say that. Nevertheless, David smirked knowingly at him.

"Did we catch you on a particularly bad day?" Wes was asking Kurt now. "It looked like chaos in there."

"No, not really," Kurt replied pleasantly, like it didn't even bother him. "We've always got some drama going on."

David and Wes exchanged glances, clearly fully losing the hope they had that New Directions might beat Vocal Adrenaline at Regionals.

When they reached Wes' car, David grinned wickedly at Blaine before turning to Kurt. "So, maybe Blaine can give you a call some time?" he asked.

Blaine groaned and vowed to himself that he would make David pay for this. Kurt, meanwhile, had turned a deep shade of red that went perfectly with his uniform. As he caught Blaine's eye, Blaine sent him a small smile.

"I'm sorry, they're idiots," he apologised.

"I'll say," Thad muttered, climbing in the backseat of the car, just to get away from the craziness outside.

"Don't worry, he's gay," Wes told Kurt, clapping Blaine's back. "Wait – you are too, right?"

"Sorry, we just assumed," David continued.

"No, that's fine." Kurt seemed to have finally found his voice back. "Most people do. But yes, I'm gay. And I suppose you can do that," he added, directing the last bit at Blaine with a shy smile.

Blaine grinned widely. "Great. Awesome! So… what's your number?"

After Kurt recited his number, Blaine sent him a quick text to make sure Kurt had his number as well, and soon after, they were on their way back to Westerville, not too hopeful about Vocal Adrenaline finally getting destroyed at Regionals, but much wiser about the goings-on in the McKinley High Glee club.

The next day during Warbler rehearsal, Blaine got a call. He managed to slip away without the council noticing before picking up.

"Kurt?" he asked worriedly. "What's wrong?" They hadn't really been in touch since the day before, which made Blaine wonder why Kurt would call him now, in the middle of the day. Wouldn't he have rehearsal himself?

"Nothing's wrong," Kurt quickly reassured him. "Apparently, Mr Schue – our director – came up with a great idea to get back at Vocal Adrenaline, and for some reason, he invited you lot to come as well. Just the four of you, though, not your entire club – and no video cameras, or anything like that. Friday, three o'clock, our auditorium. It's called the April Rhodes Civic Pavilion, though, just so you know."

Blaine grinned. "We'll be there," he told Kurt, glancing at the door nervously. "Hey, I'd love to chat some more, but I really need to get back to rehearsal before anyone notices I'm missing."

"Yeah, me too," Kurt replied. "So I'll see you then?"

Blaine's grin grew even further. "I can't wait."

When Blaine and his friends entered McKinley High for the second time that week, they managed to find the auditorium fairly quickly. The other Warblers knew what they were going to see, and while slightly disappointed that they couldn't come as well (Blaine was certain that they'd get kicked out if they all went), they relied on them to inform them of what had gone down in the McKinley High auditorium in detail.

"I wonder what they'll do to get back at Vocal Adrenaline," Wes commented, looking around curiously as they entered the auditorium.

"From what I've read in the chat rooms, Vocal Adrenaline showed them a pretty impressive performance," David said. "It must be tough to beat that."

Noticing the members of said show choir already in the front seats, Blaine quietly suggested sitting somewhere in the middle – not too close to Vocal Adrenaline, but not too far away from the stage either.

Soon after they'd all settled down in their seats, Rachel walked on stage, looking decidedly different from what the boys had seen earlier – both when she had eggs in her hair, and afterwards. She gave a short introduction (which made Blaine wonder why Vocal Adrenaline even had an escalating dispute with a show choir that hadn't existed a year prior), and behind the screen, the other New Directions members (or rather, their shadows) could be seen. It looked pretty cool, Blaine thought, but he wasn't sure if Vocal Adrenaline thought the same way. They didn't seem very impressed.

Then someone started singing –

"You know, after hearing him speak, I didn't expect Kurt's singing voice to be so low," David told a completely shell-shocked Blaine, who hadn't quite seen this coming either.

"They're doing a funk number," Thad muttered, intrigued. "That's interesting…"

Interesting indeed, Blaine thought. The students on stage were all dressed differently (from each other, but also from how they had when Blaine had first met them), but appropriately, and even the girl who looked ready to give birth was dancing along enthusiastically.

Blaine just had to smile at the students' antics when they started free styling a bit; that was something the Warblers would never do, especially when trying to best their competition. For New Directions, however, it worked.

At the end of the song, New Directions appeared to be fully confident of their abilities to win Regionals once more, while Vocal Adrenaline, contrary to what Blaine had expected beforehand, seemed sufficiently impressed. Even though he had absolutely not reason to, Blaine felt a little smug.

Hastily, the boys scurried out of the auditorium. Right when Blaine began to wonder if maybe, he should stick around, to wait for Kurt, he received a text message.

_Sorry I can't talk right now – we're at a post-performance high and the others want to go celebrate__ our impending win at Regionals. _

Smiling, Blaine quickly sent a text back, telling Kurt that they could talk later. After all, summer was coming up, and Blaine would be damned if he wouldn't take that as an opportunity to get to know Kurt better.

* * *

**A/N**: I originally wasn't planning on adding cheerleader!Kurt again, but it just so happened as I watched certain parts of the episode again. And I couldn't just leave out GUTF ;)  
Anyway, what do you think? Let me know, please review! And if you have (a) prompt(s) for other meetings (set in the general time frame of _Glee_ seasons one and two), let me know as well! :D


	15. Special education II

**A/N**: I'm honestly starting to think that I can't write shorter chapters for this anymore - third chapter in a row with more than 5,000 words. And to think I expected this to be much, much shorter when I started out...  
Anyway, as you can see, this takes place during Special Education; Kurt's still in ND (yes, the bullying is bad, but there are no kisses and death threats and such things) and is now going to sing a solo at Sectionals - as requested by _LiliesAreWhite_. For the song, I'd have to thank _once and then again_, who suggested the Plain White T's. I hope you don't mind that I didn't really use one of the songs you suggested :) I'm also not sure if the song I _did_ pick fits Kurt's voice very well, as my music knowledge is not really existent. Since it's not a song that's been sung in one of the episodes, I included some lyrics. Just from Kurt's song, of course; the other songs that are sung are just like they are in the episodes. For me, it can be a giant turn-off to find lyrics in a chapter, so it's only with great reluctance that I'm doing this. I hope you lot don't mind as much as I do ;)  
_And_: some things are different in this chapter than in the episode. The drama in the green room happens _before_ all three of the performances, instead of right before New Directions goes on. Lauren's not in this, which probably messes up the entire _Valerie_ choreography, but that's hardly the point of this story :P If there's anything else, you'll probably notice while reading. And yes, once again, there's a lot of Rachel in this. She really keeps showing up everywhere, doesn't she? :P

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom! :) (I'm wondering, could this story hit the 200 reviews mark this chapter? :D)

* * *

Even as they boarded the bus to Sectionals, Kurt could feel Rachel's eyes on him. She had been alternating between glaring at him and glaring at Santana ever since Mr Schue had told them who would get the solos at this year's Sectional competition.

Rachel's first reaction had been to ask Finn to help her out, but since Santana had still been practically blackmailing him at the time, and since he had to trust Kurt to cook his food every night (as their parents had gone on their honeymoon the day before the announcement and Finn had been told to stay at the Hummels'), he hadn't really known how to go about that. That caused Rachel to huff indignantly and start shouting at their director that he was trying to sabotage her; when that didn't work, she had stormed out.

Luckily, since this was Rachel Berry they were talking about, she had come back a day later, still indignant (and with tape on her mouth), but not wanting to miss Sectionals for anything.

As Kurt sat down next to Mercedes on the bus, Rachel plopped down in the seat across the aisle. Kurt was surprised that she didn't sit with Finn, as she'd been bothering him to no end the day before about him never telling her about the fact that he had slept with Santana a year earlier.

"You know, Kurt, if the pressure gets to you, I'll be more than happy to take over your solo," Rachel told him as sincerely as she probably could, which wasn't saying much in this situation.

"Sorry," Kurt told her, not feeling sorry at all, "I already promised Mercedes that she'd get to take over in case I get stage fright." He hadn't, but neither he nor Mercedes would tell Rachel about that. "Besides, it's not even a girl's song."

Apparently, Mr Schuester had decided that Kurt had shown that he could sing songs meant for guys – which Kurt had always known, but that wasn't really the point. Either way, that was the excuse their director had used to give Kurt this particular song. Kurt still wasn't completely sure if it fit his voice, but he didn't dwell on that matter for too long. He had a solo, and he didn't care a whole lot about the reason why he'd been given one. He himself suspected that it was more of a pity solo than anything else – the bullying had only increased lately – and it would be too controversial for him, being a guy with a fairly high voice and all, to sing a girl's song.

He turned back to Mercedes, who just smirked at him, before telling him all about the fashion monstrosities she'd come across during her shopping trip with her mum the night before.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

By the time they were at the venue where Sectionals was held, Kurt was nervous. This would be the first time he'd be singing a solo in front of a crowd this big – what if no one like it? What if it was his solo that would cause them to lose?

Needless to say, he wasn't happy when he heard that they'd, once again, drawn the third slot. Rachel tried to cheer them all up, saying that they'd won the previous time they had performed last. That might be true, but it did nothing to ease Kurt's nerves.

The drama in the green room didn't help much either – Rachel was shouting at Finn, who was trying to reason with her the best he could (but _because_ this was Rachel and Finn, it didn't help at all); Santana, who was about to perform a solo in front of everyone in the audience as well, seemed to feed off this fighting; Tina and Artie were, for some reason, upset with Mike and Brittany; Quinn was freaking out too – so, Kurt figured there would be less noise and drama going in the main hall than in this room.

Slipping out of the room, he took a deep breath in, and let it out. He was feeling much better already. Maybe he could get himself something to drink; perhaps that would calm him down. No – if he was going to drink something now, he was sure that he'd have to pee the moment he stepped onto that stage, and he was not going to let that happen to him. On the other hand – if he didn't drink, his throat would be all dry later.

Kurt was facing quite a dilemma.

In the end, he walked over towards the bar anyway and asked for a glass of water. Sipping it slowly, he glanced around. There were people milling about everywhere, and from where he was sitting, he could just make out the sign in spot near the entrance. A group of boys in blazers were at the front of the line, and Kurt watched them with interest. They must be the Warblers, he guessed. Why else would it seem like they were wearing school uniforms?

Glancing down at the outfit he'd just put on – a maroon shirt and dark pants – he supposed that he could pose as just some audience member (at least, if the other guys stayed in the green room, and out of sight). There was no way those guys could, though.

In the end, he looked away from the Warblers and instead watched the other people in the area. He was actually quite amazed that there were so many people here – most of these people probably didn't know anyone who was competing, so why would they bother coming?

Deciding that he would ponder that question some other time (though it _did_ distract him from thinking about his impending solo for a whole minute), Kurt turned back to the bar and almost jumped in surprise as he noticed someone sitting next to him all of a sudden. Sure – it was to be expected, as this place was crowded, but with all the bullying going on at McKinley, Kurt was now a little jumpier than he'd been before. Sudden movements didn't sit well with him.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the someone next to him apologised. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Kurt looked sideways and blinked. Sitting there was one of the guys he'd just seen at the check-in; one of the Warblers. And a good-looking one at that.

"It's fine," he replied, shrugging. "You probably didn't do it on purpose."

"That's true," the boy admitted, grinning slightly at him. "My name's Blaine, by the way. And you are?"

_Blaine_, Kurt thought. Yes, that fit him. "I'm Kurt," he told Blaine, shaking his hand.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Kurt," Blaine said. Turning towards the people behind the bar, he asked, "Could I have some water as well, please? Thanks." Smiling, he took the water and glanced at Kurt again. "I always need to drink something before a performance," he said conversationally, and Kurt mentally agreed; now that he had had some water, he didn't think he could've sung properly without it. "I love coffee, but my teammates won't let me have that – they're afraid that I'll start bouncing across the stage if I do and that doesn't really go with the rest of our choreography."

Wasn't this just great – Kurt finally had some information about the Warblers that he could tell the rest of New Directions, but it was right before their performance. They couldn't very well slip Blaine some coffee now, could they? No, he'd definitely notice. And besides, Kurt didn't exactly want to sabotage the competition. Especially not this boy here in front of him.

"Are you okay?" Blaine asked concernedly. "You looked like you were spacing out there for a moment…"

"Sorry," Kurt quickly apologised. "I didn't mean to."

"Anyway, what I was asking," Blaine said, "is this your first time watching a show choir competition?"

Aha. So Blaine, apparently, fell for this rather casual look, then. It appeared that the Warblers, like New Directions, hadn't gone through much trouble to figure out all the different members of the choirs they would be competing against.

"No, it's not," Kurt responded, smiling. After all, he'd never _watched_ a full show choir competition, and he definitely wasn't here to watch now, so… it was a truthful answer, right?

Blaine's eyes lit up. "It's going to be great, I can tell you that! We're going to blow everyone away with our performance this year! Our council – we don't have a director, just a couple of seniors who make decisions and stuff – decided to shake things up a little this year. Of course, we're not moving around on stage like Vocal Adrenaline yet, but there's some progress. Last year, we were standing completely still all the time, but now, we're moving around a little, so that should increase our chances by a whole lot! Besides, we're not even competing against Vocal Adrenaline this year, so I'm sure we'll win!"

Kurt shut his mouth to avoid catching flies but, wow, this boy could give Rachel a run for her money. "Are you _sure_ you didn't have any coffee lately?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the Warbler. When the other boy shook his head with a sheepish grin on his face, Kurt asked, "Are you just on a pre-performance high, or are you usually this hyperactive? Because if you are, I know someone you have to meet…"

"Sorry," Blaine said guiltily. "I'm usually like this before a big performance. Though it _is_ my first big performance in which I have a solo, so maybe I _am_ a little more hyperactive than usual." He drank some water before continuing. "Would this someone you want me to meet happen to be a girl? Because I'm not exactly… you know, _interested_."

"You have a girlfriend?" Kurt asked (quasi-)knowingly. "Don't worry, she's got a boyfriend." Though, at the rate they were going, he wasn't sure for how much longer Rachel and Finn would be together.

"No, I'm not in a relationship." Blaine's voice sounded a little strained now. "And even if I was, I doubt it would be with… a girl, if you get what I mean."

"Oh." Kurt was surprised, to say the least. Here he was, chatting with a cute, _gay_ boy his age who, unfortunately, was part of one of the other teams, and who may or may not be aware of the fact that Kurt was here to sing as well. "Yeah, I completely get it." He smiled reassuringly at Blaine, trying to let him know that he wasn't going to beat him up or something along those lines.

Blaine looked him up and down before asking, "You too? I – don't mean to make assumptions, just – "

"Yes, me too," Kurt interrupted him swiftly. "What are the odds, right?"

"Right." Kurt was certain that there must either be something on his face, or something going on behind him, since that look on the other boy's face couldn't mean much else, right? "Uh – anyway," Blaine continued, "I think I have to head back to our green room now. I doubt I'll catch you during intermission or afterwards, but do you think we could maybe meet up some time? It doesn't happen often that I come across another… person like me."

Now, Kurt eyed him a little suspiciously. "You're not still in the closet, are you?" he asked sternly. "Because if you are – "

"No, I'm not," Blaine quickly assured him. "I'm just not entirely used to talking about it so openly, in public."

Smiling, Kurt held out his hand. "Give me your phone," he instructed Blaine. "I'll give you my number."

And he really hoped that Blaine would still want to see him again after this competition. As he watched the other boy walk off, Kurt got up as well, but headed straight to the auditorium. At least he'd forgotten about how nervous he was for a little longer.

It appeared that the rest of New Directions had entered the auditorium only a few seconds before Kurt did, so it wasn't too hard to find them. Rachel seemed happy enough to give up her seat – next to Finn – to him, and as he caught Mercedes' eye, she sent him a curious look, before pretending to strangle Rachel (who, fortunately, didn't notice; she was too busy glaring at Santana). If possible, Kurt was happier than ever to have escaped that green room in time.

At that moment, the Warblers walked in. They weren't talking, shouting or even humming a tune like Kurt's teammates were at that moment; no, the private school boys were much better behaved. They glanced around the room, and Kurt hastily sat back in his seat, hoping to avoid Blaine spotting him before it was New Directions' turn to perform. It was times like this that he was glad that his stepbrother was so tall.

"So they are the Warblers," he heard Rachel mutter from next to him. Turning towards her, Kurt noticed that she was watching the group of boys with a slightly maniacal look on her face. Santana and Mercedes seemed, from what he could see, incredibly… interested in them for an entirely other reason than them being the competition.

Smiling to himself, Kurt looked back at the aisle. It was empty now; the Warblers had found their seats, apparently – a few rows down from where Kurt and his friends were sitting.

"You mean you honestly didn't check YouTube for any performances?" he asked Rachel. "Or searched for information on their school's web site?"

"There were no performances on YouTube," Rachel hissed back. "And to get access to the information about the Warblers on that web site, you had to register."

"Isn't that what fake e-mail addresses are for?" Kurt wondered out loud.

"Those can also be tracked down," Rachel replied softly.

For some reason, that sounded like something coach Sylvester would do – track down and threaten anyone who tried to get some information about the Cheerios during competition season. Kurt never would've thought that other people did that as well.

At that moment, the Hipsters were announced, and _okay_, a whole bunch of old people occupied the stage. Several people in the audience seemed to enjoy the performance, but Kurt saw Finn, Mike and a couple of others glance around like they were expecting the group on stage to either drop dead at the spot or interrupt their song to tell them that this was all a joke, and they had successfully been pranked. From what he could see, Puck seemed really into it, though.

When everybody applauded politely, he leaned over towards Rachel (his number one rival she might be, but the two of them usually had the same opinions about matters like this) and whispered, "Is it me, or are they not really a show choir?"

"They would do better in a competition for regular choirs," Rachel agreed. "I wonder what they did to have the show choir board allow them to perform here…"

More people started giving their opinions on the Hipsters' performance while the Warblers hastily walked out of the auditorium to get ready. As far as Kurt saw, Blaine was still skipping along enthusiastically. No coffee… yeah right.

Staring stoically at the stage in front of him, Kurt knew that his face must be paling considerably. Just the thought that after this, he was supposed to sing a song in front of all these people… what if they thought he sucked and didn't even bother to clap? It had been decided that he'd sing a ballad of sorts – not that it was originally a ballad, but that's what Mr Schuester had arranged it into, a slower version than the original. Plus, there were no guitars, no drums – it would be just Brad accompanying him on the piano.

"Kurt? You okay?" Mercedes shot him a concerned glance. He forced himself to smile at her and nod.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said. "Just a little nervous."

Instead of jumping at the chance to perform another solo herself, Rachel just patted his back comfortingly. "You'll be fine," she told him, and Mercedes nodded.

"You're going to kill that song," she told him firmly, and Kurt smiled at the two girls. He hoped that he could live up to their expectations.

It wasn't long before the Warblers were announced, and the curtains opened once more. True to his word, Blaine was at the front of the group. The other boys stood behind him, divided in two rows, and they were all harmonising. After a couple of seconds, Blaine started singing, and, well, Kurt was impressed, to say the least.

And even though he now knew that he was not the only guy in the world who occasionally sang songs originally sung by women, he also slightly resented the fact that he'd almost been _forced_ to sing a guy's song during this competition, while the Warblers were happily singing _Teenage Dream_ by Katy Perry. After the song, everyone started applauding again, and now Rachel leaned over to him. She looked far from happy.

"Their choreography isn't very exciting," she stated, "but the lead vocals are _amazing_. And the fact that they're an a cappella choir makes them stand out in the crowd." She bit her lip nervously. "Don't let it get to you, though," she added in an afterthought. "We're going to beat them, I'm sure of that."

The Warblers sang another song (_Hey Soul Sister_), and Kurt realised that Rachel was right – their choreography mainly consisted of most Warblers just side-stepping the entire time. Even without his coffee, Blaine was still bouncing across the stage, pulling weird faces and generally being a dork. But, Kurt decided, he made it work. It was cute.

Yeah, because he really needed to start having that kind of thoughts about his competition, mere minutes before he had to be on stage himself.

The Warblers proved to be more popular than the Hipsters, if the applause they were getting was any indication. Kurt could only hope that New Directions would be able to surpass the Warblers.

Before he knew what was happening, he was ushered out of his seat by an anxious Rachel, and he followed Finn and the others towards their green room for a final pep talk. Or not – Mr Schuester stayed were he was, so they were on their own now. No big deal, of course. Last year, their director hadn't even been present for their Sectionals competition.

"Okay, is everyone ready for this?" Rachel asked excitedly when they were all gathered backstage.

A few murmurs arose here and there, but generally, she was just ignored.

"Anyway," she continued, "I know we can do this. We may not be as well-polished as the Warblers or as… adorably old as the Hipsters, but we've got our own charm, right?"

Kurt never thought this would ever happen, but he actually appreciated Rachel's chatter at this moment. Not that the rest of their team did, but that was beside the point. He smiled back at her, which seemed enough of an encouragement for her.

Noticing that nobody but Kurt was listening, she just turned to him. "You're going to be amazing out there, Kurt," she told him earnestly. "Just… focus on the song, we'll fuss over the choreography. Don't worry about that. And you know where to stand when you're done, right?" He nodded; they'd been over this countless times by now. The choreography accompanying Santana's song was much more complicated than the one they'd come up with for his song, but it didn't stop him from worrying. Especially since Santana had vocal back up from virtually everyone, and he did not. It was nerve-wracking.

"At least you don't have to walk down the aisle all by yourself," Rachel reminded him, as if sensing what he was thinking.

"Now I have to stand on that stage all by myself," he retorted with a small smile.

Rachel sent him one final encouraging smile before ushering everyone else away while Kurt tried to calm his nerves because _this was it_. Just like their previous Sectionals performance, he would end up on the stage alone, and then everyone else would appear from the doors opposite him. It was somewhat reminiscent of _Don't Rain On My Parade_, but for the first time since they'd come up with the idea, he found that he didn't care much about that. This was it – his chance to shine, to prove that he, too, was worthy of a solo performance during a competition.

When he heard the announcer's voice, Kurt knew he had to start walking towards the front of the stage. He was halfway there when the curtains opened, and he promptly concluded that sitting in that audience hadn't adequately prepared him for the sheer size of it.

He smiled nervously at the audience while the lights blinded him, and he waited for the music to start. It was only then that he remembered that he'd planned to used the loo before going on stage. Well, there was nothing he could do about it now. Hoping that his voice wouldn't tremble too much, or that his throat would go dry all of a sudden, he opened his mouth and started singing.

_Lost myself again,  
__Didn't care,  
__I was missin',  
__Said goodbye to friends,  
__And drove away_.

Kurt vaguely wondered if Mr Schue had been paying more attention to his situation than he'd thought. But even then, it didn't seem like a song he would pick for someone to sing at Sectionals. Nobody probably even knew it.

_I just don't belong in a town,  
__Where no one listens,  
__Even if I'm wrong,  
__I'll find a way._

It had been quite a challenge to find a good pace and the right way to sing this song, but Kurt was convinced that they'd done alright. As he sang on, he felt himself growing more and more confident, and he wondered why he'd been so consumed by nerves before. It was like this came natural to him. Now used to the bright lights shining in his eyes, he managed to find their director in the audience – at least he was smiling, so that was good, right? Just like he'd expected, Kurt immediately noticed Blaine sitting in the seat Finn had previously occupied. He seemed… surprised. Hopefully in a good way.

_Gotta get away from here,  
Find a way to disappear,  
Say goodbye to everything and everyone I know_

The lyrics weren't entirely true, of course – sure, he wanted to get out of Lima, but he didn't want to disappear at all – but he had been rather relieved when he heard that at least he didn't have to sing a cheesy love song or something like it. Or another Journey song, at that.

_Gotta go and leave this town,  
__All it does is bring me down,  
__I just wanna tell my friends no matter where I go,  
__I'll see them down the road_

That was his friends' cue to appear at the back of the auditorium. And they did, fortunately. Instead of walking, however, they seemed to dance towards the stage, not in a hurry at all. Of course, Kurt knew that it was scripted, but every time, he was anxious that they wouldn't make it before his song was over and it was Santana's turn.

_Lost myself again,  
__No one new I was missing,  
__Said goodbye to dad,  
__And his new wife._

Finn in particular had appreciated that part of the song. He had even suggested that he be the one to accompany Kurt – playing the drums, not the piano, of course – but in the end, they had decided that it might work better with the piano than with drums in the background.

And of course, his teammates always managed to surprise him when it came to the choreography – some of them were already near the stage, ready to get on and get into formation.

_Gotta get away from here,  
__Find a way to disappear,  
__Say goodbye to everything and everyone I know,  
__Gotta go and leave this town,  
__All it does is bring me down,  
__I just wanna tell my friends no matter where I go,  
__I'll see them down the road_.  
_I'll see them down the road__._

Kurt knew that he was grinning like an idiot by the time the song came to an end, but he didn't care. People were clapping their hands together, so they didn't hate it, he reckoned. He was glad for that – now that he was here, he would do it all again in a heartbeat. But he couldn't, of course. It was now time for Santana's song, so he bowed happily before walking towards the group and handing the microphone to Rachel, who, in turn, gave it to Santana. As he took his place in between Finn and Sam, he glanced at Mercedes for a second. She grinned widely at him, and for the first time today, he responded in kind.

Once the audience had quieted down, Santana started singing. Kurt may have forgotten to sing his parts at times, but that was only because he'd been so busy preparing his own song that he hadn't had as much time to rehearse this choreography. Besides, it wasn't as if someone would notice that his voice was missing here and there. Fortunately, the hardest part of the choreography was performed by Mike and Brittany, and Kurt could keep up with his own part well enough. It was just a little bit harder when he had to sing as well.

They got a standing ovation when they were done – which was more than the Warblers and the Hipsters had gotten – and when the applause died down, it was announced that the judges would take twenty minutes to reach their decision. After that, they would know which team had made it to Regionals.

For some reason, the tension caused by this announcement culminated in another shouting match between Rachel and Santana, while Artie and Brittany were happily together again, and Tina and Mike appeared to have made up as well. Because of the aforementioned shouting match, however, it didn't surprise Kurt as much as he thought it would've when Finn all but pushed him out of the green room, making an excuse that nobody paid attention to.

"What is it, Finn?" Kurt asked when they'd walked a fair distance away from their team.

Finn shrugged and shuffled his feet awkwardly. "Just wanted to get out of there, actually. I don't think they're ever going to let this go, right?"

Kurt patted his new stepbrother's back (which was awkward as well, since Finn was so tall). "No, they won't," he agreed. "At least all this drama didn't ruin the performance."

"Oh, right!" Finn exclaimed, and before Kurt knew what was happening, Finn was hugging him happily. "You were great up there, dude! Awesome job!"

After Finn released him, Kurt opened his mouth to form an appropriate answer to that, but before any sound had come out, someone else spoke up. "You were great indeed, Kurt. Why didn't you tell me you were here to sing as well?"

Kurt didn't need to turn around to know who it was, but since it was more polite to do so, he turned anyway. "You never asked," he easily replied. "Oh, and by the way," he continued, smirking a little, "I, for one, don't believe that you didn't have any coffee before going on."

"Uh, Kurt?" Finn asked, seeming rather confused. "You know that guy?"

"We met before the competition started," Kurt informed him. "It's okay, Finn. He's not going to beat me up or anything."

Finn shot Blaine one final distrusting glance before muttering something about Rachel and Santana and walking back to New Directions' green room. Just like he'd promised, Finn had tried to stick up for Kurt more this past week. The other boys in Glee had helped him with that, and while Kurt still got harassed, the amount of slurs, slushies and locker slams had definitely decreased.

Blaine was staring after Finn, looking slightly confused as well. "My stepbrother," Kurt said quickly. "He's… starting to become oddly protective of me."

Blaine merely blinked. Then, he seemed to realise why he was there. "I may not have asked, but I did tell you about our performance," he reminded Kurt. "And I'll have you know, I haven't touched any coffee since yesterday afternoon."

Kurt shrugged. If this boy was so adamant to deny his obvious coffee high, then so be it. He wasn't going to push the matter because honestly, he had better things to discuss. Like the competition.

"You were pretty great as well," he told Blaine. "I'm not a huge fan of Katy Perry, but I suppose I could get used to her music if you sang it all a cappella."

Blaine now sported a silly grin on his face. "Thanks," he said modestly. "I'm just lucky that all the other guys produce such amazing background vocals. I can't imagine what it must be like to stand on that stage alone, without anyone to back me up."

"It's unbelievably scary," Kurt told him. "Once you get started, though, it feels… incredible. For me, at least."

Blaine smiled. "You seemed completely at ease up there," he said. "And I think I almost fell out of my seat when I saw you on that stage. So, did you choose that outfit on purpose, to remain inconspicuous?"

"I didn't choose it," Kurt immediately told him. "No, I must look awful in this colour."

"No, you don't," Blaine countered.

"Anyway," Kurt hastily continued, trying not to ponder the meaning of _that_ statement for too long, "no, we never thought about that, actually."

Blaine was silent for a moment, before asking, "That song you sang – the original is more up-tempo, isn't it?"

"It is. But apparently, when I sing a song, it sounds much better in a slower and less happy arrangement, without many of the accompanying instruments." Kurt rolled his eyes at the memory of Mr Schuester trying to explain this to him without making it sound offensive in any way.

"It was beautiful," Blaine said bluntly, and Kurt couldn't help it; he blushed at the compliment. Sure, his teammates had told him this as well (using a different wording, though), but for some reason, this was different. Kurt decided it must be because Blaine was on a rival team – not because he was gay as well, or something as equally unlikely.

"Thank you," he managed to say cheerfully. "I hope the judges think so as well."

He wanted to talk to Blaine for a little longer, but no – an announcement filled the whole building, telling everyone to return to their seats, because the judges had, surprisingly, managed to make their decision quicker than they normally did.

"Can I call you later?" Blaine asked suddenly. "Not – today, I think, but maybe tomorrow? Or can I text you, or anything?"

Kurt grinned, glad to see he didn't seem to be the only one who was new to this. "I gave you my number, didn't I? I suppose you can text me first," he said thoughtfully, "and then I'll let you know when to call, I guess? Would that be alright?"

"That would be perfect," Blaine assured him with a grin. "Well – good luck up there, and I'll… _text_ you later!"

Kurt waved at him before hurrying back to his own green room. For some reason, he felt calmer after talking to Blaine. If the other boy would always have such an effect on him, Kurt didn't know if he'd ever get to see enough of him.

* * *

**A/N**: Yes, that's really the end. It's not a mistake or anything. You can decide for yourself if Kurt performing instead of Quinn and Sam had any effect on who wins Sectionals (or if it's still a tie) ;)  
The song Kurt sings (in a shorter, slower, etc., version) is _Down the Road_ by the Plain White T's. I don't own that song, just to be clear - so it's hereby disclaimed.

Anyway, what do you think? Let me know all your thoughts, questions, and (also!) _prompts_ - please review!


	16. Preggers

**A/N**: A shorter chapter! (I'm glad those are still possible, but I guess you might like them longer? It's still 3,500 words, though...) So... as you may have already seen, this chapter contains the _Single Ladies_ football game, as prompted by _SaphirePhoenix_, _LiliesAreWhite_, _cool_-_girl027_ and _SommerSky_. I hope it's sort of what you expected from it :)  
Now, I don't know anything about football (and many other sports; soccer is the exception, but that seems non-existent in _Glee_ land), so I had to rely on what the episode tells me about the game. If there's anything in here that I got wrong, feel free to point it out :) Anyway, I know the game's not against Dalton in the episode, but it is here. Because it's already AU anyway.  
And! A big thank you to all my reviewers, and especially to _AweSoMeLAgain_, whose review for the previous chapter was the 200th one for this story! :D

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom! :)

* * *

To be completely honest – even though he liked football just as much as most straight guys he knew, Blaine had never actually attended one of Dalton's football games. At the beginning, right after his transfer, he'd been too afraid that he'd walk into his old bullies, or maybe get some new ones. Dalton was safe, but the football field generally wasn't.

But when one of his fellow Warblers – the only guy who was on the football team as well – announced during rehearsal that the next game would be played against the worst team in the state (they had played six games this season, and they hadn't won a single match; not even against that school for deaf kids), everyone started chatting excitedly about how funny it would be to see that team lose for the seventh time in a row. It would be a Warblers' outing. Supposing that he should be safe, surrounded by all his friends, Blaine agreed to go. He'd been itching to go to a game again, and this was the perfect opportunity. Long before the game would begin, Dalton's football team had it in the bag.

When he told his parents about the match, Blaine's father smiled at him for the first time in months. It was something Blaine had gotten used to: after he'd come out to his parents, his father hardly ever smiled at him anymore. The only times that he smiled at Blaine were when his son announced some or other activity that might possibly turn him straight again. Not that he'd ever said that out loud; he didn't need to. Blaine knew exactly how his father felt about him being gay.

His mother just told him to be safe, and to let them know if anyone gave him any trouble.

Blaine didn't know if they realised it, but neither of them told him to have fun.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Before he knew it, the day of the game had arrived. The football team was already celebrating their win, and the rest of the school happily joined them. Even some of the teachers seemed to find it amusing that there was a football team that hadn't won a single one of their games this school year. And from the rumours Blaine heard going around, the year before hadn't been a good one for the opposing team either.

It might not be a game worth watching for many people, but Blaine was glad he was going anyway.

That night, he was sitting in the backseat of David's car, while Wes and David occupied the front of the car. Nick and Jeff were sitting at Blaine's sides. They kept bouncing in their seats, barely able to contain their excitement. That was, until David got sick of it (however weird that may sound) and threatened to leave the two of them by the side of the road. And since they'd been the last Warblers to leave Dalton, they wouldn't be able to just ride along with someone else.

Needless to say, Jeff and Nick didn't make a sound until they arrived in Lima.

The school's parking lot was rather full already, but David managed to find a spot anyway somewhere to the side. They had agreed to meet up with the other Warblers at the front of the field – the tickets had been bought for them by the school because apparently, attending a football match counted as good bonding time for an a cappella show choir.

As was custom at 'school' trips, there was a head count when they reached the others and, upon concluding that everyone was present, the council members started handing out the tickets.

It surprised Blaine that so many seats were filled already, especially on the side of Lima's team. There was more than enough room in the guests' stands for the Warblers to all sit together in some way. They didn't have to wait for long until the players came out onto the field, and Blaine regarded the opposite team curiously. They looked like typical public school jocks to him – big, broad, menacing… not the type of people he wanted to meet in a deserted alley, or anywhere else where nobody was around.

When the game started, Blaine immediately realised that these guys were really, truly, the worst team he'd ever seen. They were slow, and they seemed to lack the enthusiasm that football players were supposed to have if they wanted to win a match. Blaine wondered if all the players even knew all the rules. It wouldn't surprise him if they didn't.

The captain, a tall guy who, alright, seemed to be one of the only ones on the team who wanted to win, kept getting tackled by Dalton's team, and Blaine wasn't surprised that Dalton led, six to zero. The team didn't score anymore points, which _was_ odd, but Blaine just assumed that they didn't want to beat the other team by too much. They didn't want to embarrass this team more than they had.

Still, six to zero? The other team only had to score one touchdown and they'd have six points as well. It was a dangerous position, but perhaps the Dalton team _wanted_ to play with fire. Blaine wasn't complaining; it made the game a little more exciting – which wasn't saying much. Blaine was actually pretty bored. The other guys had drooled over the cheerleading performance during halftime, and while Blaine was impressed by the gymnastics, he didn't see the appeal of a bunch of girls in short skirts showing off their bodies.

At the end of the fourth quarter, something strange happened. With one more second to go, the other team's captain called for a time-out and started talking to his teammates frantically. They didn't appear to like what he was saying, so Blaine let his gaze wander. Dalton's team was eyeing their opponents oddly. Not even the people who had come to support Lima's team seemed to know what was going on, if the uneasiness in the stands was any indication. The players on the bench were watching their teammates intently; they must know what was about to happen, and Blaine didn't know whether to be excited or weary.

"What's going on?" Blaine heard Jeff ask Nick, but Nick didn't seem to know the answer to that question either.

"They're probably just trying to win some extra time," Wes commented from Blaine's other side. "Not that it's going to save them."

When the team went back to their previous spots and the quarterback gestured towards a spot in the stands (Blaine thought), David frowned. "What's he doing?" he muttered, but he got his reply soon enough.

A song started playing.

Not just a song though – and Blaine recognised it immediately.

"_Single Ladies_?" he asked, completely dumbfounded. "What are they – "

"Seems more like something the cheerleaders would use for their performance," David said.

Wes nodded. "Probably some sort of mistake – "

"Look at the field!" Jeff cried out. If Blaine had been caught off guard by the song choice, it was nothing compared to how he felt when those huge, imposing, _masculine_ football players started dancing to this song. A song sung by a female singer, a song about women, a song that didn't really belong on a football field.

Plus, the dance to the song wasn't very manly either. It was a little disturbing to see all those football players _nailing_ the dance. The other audience members looked weirded out by the dance as well, and while Jeff was in hysterics, most other Warblers were watching the field with a mixture of shock and horror painted all over their faces.

"Even their coach is moving along," Nick muttered. "What is this? Where did we end up now?"

"This is one hell of a distraction," David commented. "I mean, look at our team!"

"They're dancing along," Blaine pointed out, causing David to roll his eyes.

"That's not what I mean, Blaine! They're completely lost; they have no idea what's happening."

"Neither do we," Nick reminded him.

As it turned out, David was right – the other team was back in formation within a split second, and before Dalton's team realised what was happening, the quarterback threw the ball across the field, and one of his teammates managed to catch it. Even though the guy was chased by a whole bunch of players, he scored – and of course, now the teams were even. Needless to say, the crowd went wild after that. It must've been the first time this season that this team had managed to score.

It pretty much sucked, Blaine contemplated. Dalton's team had had so many opportunities to score again, but they had never acted upon it. And now the other team's kicker would have the chance to finish the game.

"I heard he's not good at all," Wes said with a strained voice. "He hasn't scored at all this season."

"Neither had the team," Blaine reminded him sullenly. He wouldn't be surprised if they'd sent their kicker to some sort of camp to learn him how to kick properly. Dalton really had the worst luck ever.

"Here he comes," Jeff said, sounding like he wasn't having much fun anymore either.

"He's so small," Nick commented, frowning.

"That's probably why he's the kicker, and not the quarterback or something," Blaine said. Jeff was right, though; not only was the kicker the smallest player on the field, he didn't look very… jock-like at all.

For some reason, it hardly surprised Blaine this time around when _Single Ladies_ started playing again and the kicker started moving along. He _did_ notice, however, that this boy's movements seemed much more refined than the other players'. It wasn't that they'd been bad, but this boy probably could've danced to this song in his sleep.

And it certainly didn't escape Blaine's notice that the boy had a very nice ass. Sadly enough, his dance lasted merely a couple of seconds, as opposed to the other players' elaborate routine. Blaine wouldn't have really minded a longer show.

And he really needed to stop thinking like that. Because the kicker, nice ass or not, was far better than Wes had predicted. Besides, he was still a jock, and jocks sort of automatically hated gay guys.

"He scored," Wes said feebly, staring at the kicker as if he couldn't believe what had just happened. "He scored. We lost. David – we lost! Wasn't this team supposed to be the worst high school team in Ohio?"

"They're awful alright," David replied. "But they surprised us. And their kicker isn't as bad as the rest of the team."

Jeff snorted. "Not as bad? That field goal looked amazing!"

The kicker had now been lifted onto his teammates' shoulders, and he waved happily at someone Blaine couldn't quite make out in the stands. As he was carried off of the field, people started leaving – to celebrate, probably.

As the other Warblers stood up as well, Blaine glanced at the field one last time. It had definitely been an interesting night.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Half an hour later, Blaine was standing next to David's car, tapping his foot impatiently. His friends had decided that they'd better use the bathroom before driving all the way back to Westerville, and David and Nick had complained about being hungry, so they were going to see if there was a hotdog stand around somewhere.

Blaine had thought he could wait by the car, but he hadn't expected them to take this long. Nearly everyone had left, and he didn't want to get beaten up by a group of jocks he didn't know in a nearly empty parking lot.

" – bunch of kids that usually beat you up." Blaine looked up from the ground and saw two figures approaching, a bigger and a smaller one.

"But they'll get kicked off the team if they bully me now," the other voice tried to reason with the first.

"I'm not sure if – " the first voice started, but he was interrupted.

"Hummel!" someone shouted from a distance away. Both figures turned towards the source of the voice. "My car won't start, give me a hand, would you?"

The bigger figure laid a hand on the other's shoulder. "Just wait by the car, alright? I'll be right back."

As he walked off, the smaller person started walking towards Blaine again, coming to a halt only by the car next to David's. He leaned against it, and only then appeared to notice Blaine standing there.

"Oh, hello," he greeted Blaine, sounding a little confused. Then, his eyes seemed to narrow. "You're not going to beat me up, right? Because my dad isn't _that_ far away…"

Blaine, however, was much too surprised by his sudden realisation that this was actually the other team's kicker, and that the boy looked even more fragile up close than from a distance. "No…," he said in the end, blinking. "No, of course not. You're an amazing kicker, by the way."

The boy shrugged. "So they keep telling me. I actually hardly have any idea of what's going on at that field most of the time, no matter how often my dad tries to explain it to me."

"Not a football fan?" Blaine asked curiously. "Why did you join the team if you don't know the game?"

The boy eyed him carefully. "One of my… friends told my dad that I was on the football team," he responded after a few seconds. "She meant well, but… then he wanted a ticket to the next game, so I _had_ to get on the team. I guess I was just lucky that the team was in desperate need of a kicker."

Blaine snorted. "No offense, but your team desperately needs better players."

"You don't go to McKinley?" the boy asked rhetorically. "There _are_ no better players here, from what I hear."

"I go to Dalton," Blaine replied, feeling slightly uneasy. Time for a subject change, he thought. "But why would your friend tell your dad you're on the football team if you're not?"

The boy sighed. "We got caught in somewhat of a… compromising situation." He coughed and blushed, before hastily adding, "Nothing sexual, I mean, just… not something most teenage boys tend to do."

Nodding, Blaine studied the other boy's face. His blush made him look even younger than before, and not for the first time did Blaine wonder why they'd let him on the team. He seemed much too small, and too young, to be part of the team. Yes, he was cute. But – Blaine cursed inwardly for letting go of his train of thought so easily.

The boy now continued. "I don't think my dad believed her when she said I was on the team, and I don't think he's really all that comfortable with me being on the team either. He can be a little overprotective at times."

"What were you doing when he caught you?" Blaine asked without thinking. "I mean – sorry, it's not my place to pry."

"No, it's not," the boy quipped. He stared in the direction his father had walked off in.

"I'm Blaine, by the way," Blaine introduced himself, internally berating himself for not doing that earlier.

"And I'm Kurt," the other boy said, still a little standoffish.

"If I tell you a story about why I'm at Dalton now, will you tell me what you were doing?" Blaine offered. It might be dangerous, yes – what if the boy was a closeted homophobe, or something, and called all his teammates to beat Blaine to pulp? But Blaine had a good feeling about this, somehow. "You may be able to relate to it – I just… heard your dad say something about bullying? Not that I want to imply that you're – "

"Yes, I'm being bullied at school," Kurt interrupted him, rolling his eyes.

"Right," Blaine said. "So… would that be alright?" Kurt didn't reply, but simply raised his eyebrows as if to urge Blaine to continue. "I was bullied too," Blaine said bluntly. "Not from the beginning, of course, but basically, after my coming out, it was everyone against me. So after middle school, my parents pulled me out of public school, and sent me to Dalton instead." Sure, it wasn't quite what you'd call the extensive version of the story, but he wasn't going into details with this complete stranger.

"Your… coming out?" Kurt asked hesitantly, looking Blaine up and down.

"I'm gay," Blaine replied, making sure to watch the other boy's reaction closely. There was only surprise on Kurt's face.

"You're gay?" he whispered. "Oh, wow. I never thought…" He trailed off. Then, he seemed to think of something. "Anyway, my dad caught me and two friends dancing to _Single Ladies_, in matching outfits." Seeing Blaine's shock, he added with a roll of his eyes, "Yes, that whole distraction thing on the field was pretty much my fault."

"Well, you _did_ help your team win for the first time this season…" Blaine muttered. "And I'm sure your dad's proud of you, right?"

Kurt shrugged in response. "I guess he is. I just don't really want to stay on the team for much longer, you know? I don't like it that much, and… well, most other players don't appreciate me being there much either. And they keep telling me to use the girls' locker room instead because they're afraid that I'm peering at their junk, or something." He visibly shuddered at that.

"That sucks," Blaine commented dryly.

Kurt pulled a face. "You're telling me…"

"So they think you're gay?" Blaine asked carefully. Not that it was any of his business, but now his curiosity had been piqued. He simply couldn't help himself.

"They do," Kurt muttered. "Everyone does, actually." He snorted, then glanced around for a few seconds. "I doubt I'll even have to come out anymore. It's common knowledge by now."

"I'm sorry," Blaine said sorrowfully. He himself had quite liked the fact that he'd been able to figure out his feelings on his own before telling the people around him. Many of them hadn't quite seen it coming, so he could come to terms with his sexuality in peace. It seemed that everyone Kurt knew had already made their assumptions and was harassing him for it, not allowing the boy to draw that conclusion for himself, to accept himself for who he was because they already were letting him know that they thought he was a freak of nature.

Kurt just shrugged helplessly. "There's not much you can do about it, right? Plus, maybe it _is_ easier for me, in a way. Coming out must be tougher when everyone assumes you're straight than when everyone's already having their suspicions that you might be gay."

_That_ was probably true as well. "Have you told your parents, though?" he asked, unsure if the imposing figure that was Kurt's dad would easily accept that his son was gay.

Kurt shifted uneasily. "I haven't," he admitted. "I'm just… scared that my dad'll be _so_ disappointed in me."

Blaine swallowed. "But if he's really as protective of you as you say – and if everyone already suspects you're gay… don't you think he sort of knows as well?"

"Maybe," Kurt admitted quietly. "Oh – there he comes."

And indeed, Kurt's father was walking towards the car again. Placing his hands on Kurt's shoulders, Blaine smiled at the other boy. "It'll be fine, Kurt, you can do this," he told him. "Remember – courage."

Kurt nodded. "Thank you," he muttered. "Uh – do you think we could meet up again some time? Just to talk, of course."

Blaine grinned at him. "I think that would be good for both of us," he said. They would be able to relate to one another far better than anyone else could, he assumed. "I'll just add you on Facebook, okay?"

"Sounds good to me," Kurt replied, smiling a little as well. By now, his father had reached them, and with another smile and a small wave, Kurt was sitting in the car. His father looked at Blaine warily for a split second before getting in as well. Even before the car had left the parking lot, Blaine already had his phone out, ready to add Kurt as soon as he found the boy.

Of course, he was just about to look for Kurt on the social networking site when his friends returned. They apologised (rather profusely, at that), but for some reason, Blaine couldn't be too mad at them for being so late. He wouldn't have wanted to miss meeting this spectacular boy for anything in the world.

* * *

**A/N**: So, what do you think? :) I hope you liked it! If you have any comments/questions/prompts (both season 1 and 2), please review! :D  
(and I'm going to see DH2 tonight! So excited! :D)


	17. A night of neglect

**A/N**: So this chapter is a bit longer again. As you might've already guessed, the Warblers attend the Night of Neglect... as requested by _whiterose03_ and _KiKiFliesDW13 Gleek_. I hope it's (somewhat) like you expected :)  
Anyway... I first wanted Kurt to serenade Blaine. With a Katy Perry song. (So, in this AU, Rachel didn't sing _Firework_ around Valentine's day. And nobody witnessed _Teenage dream_, so Katy Perry is a neglected artist.) Then I couldn't find good songs to serenade people, so I dropped that and just had Kurt sing Katy Perry. (So, the Blaine here is Katy-Perry-obsessed!Blaine, if you hadn't guessed already.) And then I had Brittany propose to duet with him because otherwise I'd have to change some lyrics too much. I have no idea if their voices go together well or if they fit the song well, but if not, just ignore that tiny little fact ;) Either way, Kurt and Brittany perform after Holly, before Mercedes - which might not make much sense, given the amount of stuff and people Holly and Mercedes need on stage, but I didn't want Kurt to get heckled :P So... yeah. Sandy doesn't return from his meeting with Sue until right before Mercedes' song.  
And due to my previously mentioned aversion from including lyrics in chapters unless absolutely necessary... there are no lyrics here. I think it's pretty straightforward what they sing and how they sing it exactly; if not, let me know in a review and I'll try to explain it :)

Since I'm rambling now anyway, I'll just say it now: up until (at least) chapter 20, I'll continue the way I'm going - with odd chapters describing meetings during season 2, and even chapters those in season 1 - but since I have more ideas stocked up that take place in season 2 than in season 1 (both reviewers' ideas and my own), that'll change after chapter 20. I'll still write chapters taking place in either season, but there might be more season 2 chapters than season 1 (or occasionally, the other way around, who knows). Just so you know, in case you were interested :)

And - at some point, I follow the episode rather closely here (not entirely literally, but you'll see when you get there). I don't own anything :) Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and don't hesitate to leave a review/prompts! :)

* * *

After their final class of the day, Kurt walked out with Mercedes, Mike and Tina. They all had some great ideas for their performances during the Night of Neglect, but Kurt knew that he'd first have to return home, listen to some music, and let his mind roam before he would come up with the perfect song to sing. Like most of his friends, he was well aware that in Glee club, he was perpetually neglected. Some people – alright, who was he kidding; Rachel was the only person who fell in this category – were not neglected at all, but _felt_ like they were (something Kurt would have to talk about with Rachel), and others simply didn't seem to care much.

"What are you going to sing, Kurt?" Tina asked him, obviously noticing that he was zoning out a little.

"I'm not sure yet," he replied, his mind reeling with possible songs. "But I'll find something."

Mercedes nodded. "Maybe you can sing something related to your audition as well?"

He could. He might. He just didn't know yet. And that slightly bothered him, because Kurt Hummel was not indecisive. Not too often, at least. Preferably.

"Oh, I know!" Tina suddenly exclaimed, a mischievous glint in her eyes that Kurt didn't think he'd ever seen before. "Maybe you can sing the song _I_ sang for my audition? I don't think we've ever sung anything by the same artist afterwards, so you should be good to go."

Kurt wasn't sure if he trusted Tina right now, especially since Mike was trying his hardest not to laugh. The last time _that_ had happened, Sam had been about to get serenaded with a song about his mouth. He glanced at Mercedes, and she was sending Tina an incredulous look.

"What was the song?" he asked suspiciously.

Tina shook her head, smiling. "No, I won't tell you yet. I'll tell you tomorrow. It's not that bad, Kurt. Besides, you can always change the lyrics so they'll fit you better, or something."

"Don't bother asking anyone else, because nobody else knows," Mike told him. Well, that was just unfortunate.

"Come on, Kurt, it'll be fun!" Tina egged him on. "You know what? If you sing the song, you can drag me along to the mall next weekend and I'll try on anything you find me."

"Why do you want me to sing that song so badly?" he asked, not fully understanding what the big deal was. Sure, he wasn't really into the music Tina liked, but he could try to sing the song. The fact that she was practically bribing him to sing it probably meant that he would not like the song at all.

Tina and Mercedes exchanged glances and almost cracked up. "It would be hilarious to watch," Mercedes assured him.

"So I should get on that stage and let everyone laugh at me?" Kurt asked; that was not his goal at all.

At that moment, Finn walked up to them, saying something about Sunshine Corazon being here. As they followed him towards the auditorium, Kurt told Tina, "I'll think about it. And if everyone laughs at me, you're going shopping with me for two or three weekends straight."

"It'll be fine," Tina tried to soothe him, patting his arm as they entered the auditorium together to see what exactly Sunshine wanted from them now.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The next day during rehearsal, Kurt was not amused. He had gone through many possibilities of what Tina might have in store for him and in the end, he'd figured he might as well go with it. After he'd told her that he would sing her audition song if she would join him on his next shopping trip(s) as his personal dress up doll, she had grinned happily.

When Mr Schuester had come in and asked the group who was planning on performing, and who would help out in any other way, it turned out that only half of the group was going to perform. But that was all fine, apparently. Quinn and Finn were going to organise the whole thing and Sam would announce the various performers. The others would just be around and help, or something. Kurt couldn't be sure.

Right after Tina told Mr Schuester which song she was going to sing, she added, "And Kurt agreed to sing the song I did for my Glee audition."

In response, Mr Schuester frowned at Kurt. "Are you sure, Kurt?" he asked hesitantly. "I mean, I don't know how people are going to react to _that_."

Kurt shrugged. "I don't even know the song. I was bribed."

Tina grinned at this. "I reckon I can tell you now. You need to prepare anyway. I sang _I kissed a girl_, by Katy Perry."

Kurt's eyes narrowed. "You expect me to sing _that_?"

"Well," Tina replied, obviously trying to convince him anyway, "it's sort of true, right? You kissed Brittany last year – " (at this, Brittany waved in their direction happily,) "even though you're not exactly attracted to girls, so it might create a… funny situation, don't you think?"

"You'll confuse all the people in the audience," Mr Schuester commented.

"If anyone gives you any trouble for it, we've got your back," Puck said, and Finn and Sam nodded in agreement.

"So that's the song you'll be singing Saturday night?" Mr Schuester asked Kurt, his pen hovering about the sign up sheet he was filling out. "And – "

"Can I help?" Brittany asked eagerly.

"Help?" Kurt asked confusedly. He was very capable of figuring out how to sing this song by himself.

"You mean like a duet?" Mr Schue asked, glancing from Brittany to Kurt and back. When Brittany smiled happily, he said, "Is that alright with you, Kurt?"

Well, that was awkward. Kurt knew he could easily sing the song on his own, but maybe, with Brittany there, it would be easier – people might not give him as much hell for singing the song, and she could sing the parts he could definitely not sing since he'd be confusing himself then. "Sure," he answered, still a bit baffled. Brittany beamed at him. "We'll talk about it later, okay?" So now he was going to sing a song about kissing a girl with the only girl (alright, the only _person_) he'd ever kissed – who had also kissed another girl. Said other girl was staring at Brittany with an incredulous look on her face.

He glanced at Tina and Mercedes out of the corner of his eye. They looked just as perplexed as he felt.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

That day during lunch, Wes surprised Blaine by calling an emergency meeting. There hadn't been an emergency meeting in ages, and they usually weren't held at all after the Warblers' competition season was over. Why on earth would there be an emergency meeting now?

Grabbing his lunch, Blaine hastily stood up from his seat and speed walked towards the meeting room. On his way there, he was joined by most other Warblers as well, none of whom had any idea as to what was wrong.

Arriving in the Warblers' meeting room, Blaine cast a glance at the council table. Wes was looking at the rest of the Warblers impatiently, David looked a little bemused, and Thad was hastily eating the remainder of his lunch. He barely managed to save his last sandwich from getting caught in between Wes' gavel and the council table when Wes decided that it was time to open the meeting.

Some Warblers immediately started talking again after this, asking Wes why on earth he'd called a meeting. Now that they didn't need to worry about Nationals, they only had meetings twice a week. Nothing interesting had been going on during their last meeting, just the afternoon before.

After slamming his gavel down a couple of times more, Wes finally spoke. "This year, we're out of the running for the Nationals title," he started. "Next year, however, the Warblers can start fresh. Now, we," he said, gesturing towards himself and his fellow council members, "won't be around anymore, but that doesn't mean we won't fully support you next year. And you need to be prepared, seeing as there are not one, but multiple amazing show choirs around that you need to beat in order to go to Nationals or even win it next year."

"So what do you propose?" Jeff asked, frowning. "Where are you going with this?"

"I was just getting to that," Wes replied, a little peeved. "As some of you may know, I've taken it upon myself to keep an eye on the competition. At the beginning of this school year, Vocal Adrenaline seemed like our main competitors, which is why I started following several of their members on Twitter." After the subsequent murmurs died down, Wes continued. "Their main lead, Sunshine Corazon, sent out an interesting tweet last night. In this, she called upon all her followers to attend what she called the first annual Night of Neglect at William McKinley High School in Lima in order to raise money for, among others, that school's academic decathlon team."

"I thought Vocal Adrenaline was Carmel's show choir?" Nick asked, confused. "Why would she help out some random school?"

Wes' eyes glinted happily. "I'm not sure of her motives, but McKinley is not a random school. This Night of Neglect is hosted by New Directions."

Now, it took Wes a little longer to calm everyone down. Blaine thought it was pretty fishy – why would the lead singer of one show choir sing at a show hosted by another? Especially since both clubs were headed towards Nationals in a little over a month?

"Is that even useful?" Trent asked. "We can get a feel of what this Sunshine girl sings like if we just watch the Nationals competition, and we've heard half of New Directions sing already."

"You can never be too prepared," David replied to that. "Maybe they've got some hidden talent there. We don't know if they'll use the same people for next year's competitions as they did this year."

When nobody else protested, Wes looked around the room with a satisfied smile. "Looks like we're going to Lima, then. So make sure you don't have anything to do next Saturday – we'll discuss plans for that night during the next meeting."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

That Saturday night, the Warblers arrived at McKinley's parking lot exactly half an hour before the show would start. At least they'd have semi-decent spots, they figured. At first, Wes had told them all to wear their uniforms, wanting to see what kind of reactions that would bring about. At Blaine's insistence, however, they were now wearing more casual clothes. The fact that their group consisted of fifteen teenage boys was odd enough – if they would go in uniform, who knew what might happen to them. If there was anything Blaine remembered about public school kids, it was that they were easily provoked and that things could get nasty from there.

When they entered the school, the group was met by two boys who looked slightly bored. Seeing the Warblers come in, however, the boys put their best show smiles on their faces and stood a little straighter.

"Uh – hi," one of the boys, a _very_ blond one, greeted them, "are you here for the Night of Neglect?"

"Yes, we are," Wes replied somewhat pompously, flashing the group's tickets. "Can you show us where to go?"

"That's why we're here," the other boy replied, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Sam, can you stay here, in case there are other people coming? We can't really have random people walking around school, especially on a Saturday night."

The boy named Sam looked dubious. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, what if you run into Karofsky or one of his friends?"

The other boy shrugged. "I guess I can risk it just this once. And it's not as if the auditorium is that far away…"

Sam continued to look hesitant, but his friend told the Warblers, "Just follow me, the auditorium is right this way."

Most of the Warblers had never been in a public school before, so they were looking around in amazement the entire way. Blaine was just wondering if this school could possibly be as bad as his old school and, if it was, if there was any chance at an encounter with bullies. All of a sudden, he wasn't as happy to be here anymore.

After about a minute, a blond girl approached them, pushing a boy in a wheelchair. Both students smiled happily at the group of boys. "Hey, Kurtie!" the girl said cheerfully, and the boy leading the Warblers around pulled a slightly pained face. "You'd better get them to the auditorium, the show's about to start!"

"I know," 'Kurtie' replied. "I was just about to drop them off."

"It's going to be a full house," the boy in the wheelchair added. "Make sure you get some good seats," he told the Warblers.

"We will," David told him as the two students headed towards another room.

"Thanks for coming, it's really cool," the boy in the wheelchair before they disappeared.

Before the group could walk any further, a voice came from behind them. "What the hell is this?"

Blaine turned around and yes – prototype bully, there was no doubt about it. Standing in front of them was a huge, bulky guy, obviously some sort of jock, and he was glaring at them as if they'd personally assaulted him. Which was just ridiculous – what could they do against a guy this big?

"They're here for the benefit," their guide (of sorts) told the (much) larger boy. His tone indicated that this definitely wasn't the first time the two of them had crossed paths. "Don't tell me you're going."

"I wouldn't be caught dead," the jock replied, and Blaine had to admit – if he'd been alone, he would've run for his life by now. And if not, he most certainly wouldn't be standing here like the smaller boy was, standing up for himself and generally being brave. It was an admirable trait, Blaine thought, but perhaps a little foolish as well.

As the jock rambled on about his classmates spreading fairy dust all over the school, Blaine glanced at his friends. They all seemed shocked at… what, exactly? The harsh reality of the world outside Dalton? The ignorance of a lot of people? The hate that gay people (since Blaine figured that the boy leading them towards the auditorium might be gay…but he could be wrong) faced every day?

"Just give it up, Karofsky," the boy said, his eyes narrowing. "You know that the second you pull something, the other guys – "

Without letting him finish, the bigger boy charged at him. Blaine stood there, paralysed, and it appeared that the same went for his friends.

"Hey, stop it!" Before any of them knew what was happening, a girl stepped in and pushed the two apart.

She glared daggers at the bully and the smaller boy wasn't backing down either. "Are all public schools like this?" Wes muttered in a barely audible tone. Blaine shrugged; from what he'd seen so far, they were all equally bad. Then again, he'd only seen two so far, so he didn't know if that was enough to get a general impression.

In the meantime, the girl had managed to get the bully to leave them alone, telling him something about razor blades in her hair – Blaine decided that he didn't want to know the details to that. He just knew that this girl was not someone to be crossed.

"Thanks, Santana," the other boy told the girl with a small smile. "You didn't need to do that, I could've handled it."

The girl looked at him as though she didn't quite believe him. Then, her expression changed. "You shouldn't have to handle it by yourself. Besides, it's more fun doing it together."

Something buzzed, and both the girl and Wes pulled out their phones. The girl cursed and walked into the same room as the two other students had done earlier, and Wes frowned.

"What's wrong?" David asked, and Wes shook his head.

"Apparently, Sunshine Corazon is not coming," he told the group. "Nor are most of her followers."

Wes and David exchanged looks, having a silent conversation. In the end, all the other Warblers knew what was the topic of their discussion this time. None of Sunshine's other followers might be coming, but they sure were. They were there already anyway, and this whole thing wasn't just to see how Sunshine handled herself on stage, but also what New Directions could have in store for them next year.

"So are you planning on leaving as well?" the McKinley boy asked them, sounding a little worried.

"No, we're staying," Wes said resolutely, and with that, the boy continued leading them towards the auditorium.

"Here we are," he said somewhat awkwardly when they arrived. "I'm sorry you had to witness that just now."

Wes shrugged, and David said, "That wasn't your fault. It's fine."

"Actually, it's not fine," Thad interjected. "Do things like this happen all the time?" As he said this, he looked at Blaine, who started feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Yes, they do," the boy replied simply, smiling apologetically. "Anyway, you can sit down anywhere you want." He gestured towards the mostly empty auditorium. "It's not like there'll be more people coming."

Indeed, the auditorium was still mostly empty. There were a couple of people – it looked like a teacher and a couple of students – sitting somewhere in the front rows, so the Warblers sat down in the middle of the auditorium, occupying a few rows, so they could all sit close together.

"I'm guessing not many students from here will be coming," Jeff commented, and the guys around him nodded.

"Based on what we just witnessed in that corridor, I doubt the Glee club here is very cool," David agreed.

Once more, Blaine was very happy that at Dalton, the Warblers were a respected group. Add to that the anti-bullying policy, and he had nothing to worry about. More than that – most people seemed to like him, and no one gave him a hard time for being himself. Sure, he couldn't _entirely_ be himself, but conforming was part of the point of Dalton's rules and policies. Conforming just enough was what made him safe, and his safety was what mattered most. So he didn't exactly mind most of the rules at Dalton if they helped create a safe environment.

Soon after, the first performer was announced and a girl dressed in black came on stage. From what the Warblers had seen, she was not one of the New Directions members who had performed during a competition (unlike the blond boy near the entrance of the school, or the girl who'd chased off the bully). This was exactly what they'd come for.

She hadn't sung two lines of her song before the students who'd already been in the auditorium when the Warblers had come in started shouting and booing at her.

Blaine exchanged shocked glances with Jeff and Nick. "What are they doing?" Nick mouthed.

"And why are they doing it?" Jeff mouthed back. Blaine didn't know the answer either, but it seemed that they'd seriously underestimated the level of uncoolness of a Glee club at this school.

It wasn't long before the girl ran off stage, and Blaine didn't blame her. If it had been him… well, maybe he wouldn't have run away, but he might've definitely been too shocked to continue for a moment.

"What's wrong with those people?" Wes hissed at Blaine. "She was good, why would they chase her away?"

"What are you asking me for?" Blaine asked. "I may have gone to public school before Dalton, but that doesn't mean I'm an expert at the subject!"

"Honestly though, if all the New Directions members are this good, and this different from one another, it's a good thing we decided to come," David concluded. "I wouldn't be surprised if you could name a random song and they'd have someone who could sing it."

"They certainly have more variety than we do," Wes agreed. "But that could work as a disadvantage for them as well – they're more all over the place than we are."

Right then, a girl walked in with a couple of baskets, filled with sweets. The hecklers eagerly grabbed as much as they could before the girl – clearly a prom queen candidate – disappeared again.

"Why aren't we getting any candy?" Jeff asked, sounding rather offended.

"It's just a measure to distract them from heckling the performers too much," Thad piped up. "We weren't heckling them – and please, Jeff, don't start now – so we don't get any. I doubt they'd have enough for all of us anyway."

The blond guy from earlier announced the next performer – a dancer, rather than a singer. As soon as the boy stepped into the light, Blaine recognised him as the guy who'd danced so outrageously well at Sectionals. After the admittedly slightly disappointing choreography New Directions had shown at Regionals, he'd forgotten that they had some excellent dancers amongst them, which gave them an obvious advantage over the Warblers. If they used said dancers, that was.

Thanks to the candy that had been handed out, the hecklers were quiet for the biggest part of the song. Afterwards, the Dalton students jumped up quickly to applaud, before the hecklers had the chance to start booing again.

Intermission started, but Blaine figured he'd best stay in the auditorium. He didn't want another run-in with a (potential) bully. Some of the other guys did venture outside, curious as they were about being in a public school.

During the intermission, the stage was prepared for the next few songs. Blaine didn't know how many people were going to perform, but judging from the fact that there was an intermission after only two performances, there couldn't be many left.

Suddenly, the boy who'd led them to the auditorium walked on stage, talking to the blond girl they'd met in the hallway. Both of them had changed their outfits, and they must be discussing a performance, Blaine thought. He couldn't make out what exactly they were saying, so instead, he concentrated on the conversation some of the other Warblers were having behind him.

"Spies!" a high-pitched girl's voice sounded from outside. The two students on stage looked up, and the boy rolled his eyes before continuing to talk. That was, until a short brunette girl stormed into the auditorium and ran straight at the stage.

"What is it, Rachel?" the boy asked. As he was at the front of the stage now, his voice was audible. "Weren't you looking for Mercedes?" A little concernedly, he added, "Should I go find her? I – "

"No, that's fine," the girl, Rachel, replied. "I think I know where to look for her, but we've got another problem."

"Spies," the blond girl supplied not very helpfully.

"How'd you guess," Nick muttered from next to Blaine, staring at the stage.

"The Warblers are here, in disguise," Rachel told her team mates.

Wes, who'd followed her in, huffed and made his way down. "We're not in disguise," he informed the three McKinley students matter-of-factly. "We're just not in our uniforms."

"Birds wear uniforms?" the blond girl wondered out loud, and now, Nick groaned loudly.

"They're not really birds," the boy on stage tried to explain before giving up. "Anyway, Rachel, I don't really see the problem. They're not our competition anymore, right?"

"We might have to compete against them again next year," Rachel reminded him, glaring at Wes.

The boy sighed. "That's true. But we can't throw them out, they paid to be here." Looking at the audience, he added for good measure, "Let's first worry about Nationals. We'll have plenty of time to worry about next year's Sectionals, don't you think?"

The girl huffed, turned on her heel, and stormed out of the auditorium.

"I hope she remembers to look for Mercedes," the boy quipped. Turning towards Wes, he said, "Sorry about Rachel. I wish I could say she's not usually like this, but the truth is, she is."

Wes nodded stiffly and returned to his seat, while the boy said something else to the blonde. Then, they went off stage as well.

Right before the next performance started, a tall blond woman walked in, and David nudged Blaine. "Hey," he whispered as quietly as possible, "isn't that the coach of Aural Intensity? What on earth is she doing here?"

"Beats me," Blaine whispered back. The woman exchanged some words with the heckling man sitting there (the three students must've left at some point; not that Blaine minded particularly), and then they walked out of the auditorium together. The man walking in at that moment (New Directions' director? Blaine wasn't entirely sure) seemed to have had some issues with the woman in the past. Something told Blaine that it wasn't just about a Regionals rivalry.

Apparently, in the short time between Rachel storming out and now, an entire orchestra had settled on the stage and a woman (_Holly Holiday_? She must've been bullied for her name during her youth, Blaine guessed) came on. Her song choice and the presence of the teacher in the auditorium made Blaine feel like their entire group was witnessing a rather private moment.

After the stage was cleared, the next performance was announced. Blaine missed the name of the song or the performer, but David asked, "Did he just say Britney Spears?"

"Why would Britney Spears be here, in Ohio, performing at a public school for a benefit?" Wes asked incredulously.

No Britney Spears appeared, however, but instead, a tune Blaine knew all too well started playing. He bounced up and down in his seat with an ever-growing grin on his face, and the Warblers sitting around him groaned.

"What have we done to deserve this?" David exclaimed dramatically. Before anyone had the time to reply, someone started singing. Blaine's eyes almost fell out of their sockets. It was the boy from earlier! Blaine had to admit, though – he didn't look entirely at ease singing the song, and Blaine wondered if someone had blackmailed him into doing this. Either way, he just sat back and enjoyed the show; the boy had an amazing voice and – dare he think it? – equally amazing legs. Especially in those skinny jeans.

Wes was just gaping at the stage. "They have a countertenor?" he asked, sounding slightly horrified. "That's so unfair – they've got a wide range of female voices, they don't need him! Why can't they give him to us? Think of all the possibilities, all the songs we could do if only we had a countertenor!"

He blabbered on for a little longer, but Blaine tuned him out. There were more important things going on right now. Like the boy standing on stage, singing one of Blaine's favourite songs with his flawless voice and –

Wait. What was going on here? What was that girl doing? Only then did Blaine recall what had happened during the intermission; the two students must've done some last minute discussing of how to do their number.

Either way, after the boy had completed the first verse and chorus, a girl stepped on stage to sing the bridge while dancing around like a madwoman (though in a good way – it looked all kinds of awesome). After that, the boy and the girl sang the chorus together one more time, and the song was over.

There was another short break, during which the stage was prepared for the final song (or songs, that was still uncertain).

"That was an interesting song choice," Nick spoke up, while Jeff sniggered.

"Yeah, I wonder what it was all about," David chimed in.

"Well, easy," Jeff said. "The girl probably just kissed another girl some time, maybe while at a party during a game, or something. As for the guy – "

"He's probably gay but in denial at some point?" Nick guessed.

"Who knows," Jeff said with a smirk. "If the lyrics apply to him, then yes."

Loud chatter was heard as the doors to the auditorium opened and a group of teens entered. "So they're coming to watch their own show now?" Wes muttered, sounding hopelessly confused. The group sat down where the hecklers had previously been seated, and speaking of the hecklers – the older man was back. Blaine hoped that he wasn't going to mess up another song.

As he'd already expected, the next song was wonderful as well. The Warblers would have their work cut out for them next year if they wanted to beat such a versatile group. And scattered all over the place as New Directions might be, they seemed supportive of each other anyway in the end, if this was any indication.

Even the heckling man was enjoying himself.

After the song ended, there was some confusion here and there about whether or not there would be another song, but in the end it appeared to have been decided that the benefit was over. For a moment, the Warblers stood outside the auditorium, feeling a bit lost as they had no idea where to go. They vaguely remembered where they'd come from, but they didn't know the entire route there.

"Did you like the show?" a voice suddenly came from behind them, and there he was again, the same boy who'd also brought them in.

Multiple Warblers answered his question at the same time, possibly making it quite difficult for him to understand what anyone was saying.

"Why did you choose that song to sing?" Jeff asked, curious as he was.

The boy pulled a face. "It was a bribe. Some of my friends thought it fit me."

"Singing about kissing a girl and hoping your boyfriend doesn't mind?" Nick asked, grinning widely.

"Something along those lines, yes," the boy responded, wincing slightly.

Deciding to spare the boy, Blaine asked, "Could you point us towards the exit? We don't quite remember where it is."

The boy smiled thankfully. "I need to get to the choir room," he answered, "but I can give you the directions."

As they walked out, Blaine knew that the council members would be up until early the next morning to make plans to ensure that the Warblers would at least stand a small chance to advance to Nationals next year. He knew that Nick and Jeff, though making jokes all the time, _were_ taking New Directions seriously, even more now that they'd seen them at the benefit. And, last but not least, he knew that he would never listen to Katy Perry ever again without remembering a certain boy with a beautiful voice.

* * *

**A/N**: So, what do you think? The ending is kind of cheesy, I think, but I hope you liked it :) Let me know what you think, please review!


	18. Wheels

**A/N**: First of all, I'm sorry for the false alert a couple of days ago - I was editing an earlier chapter and wanted to replace it, but clearly, that went wrong. As you can see, this time, there _is_ a new chapter. It's based on a prompt by _Number1KurtHummelFan_, who wanted the boys to meet (right) after Kurt blew the high note in _Defying Gravity_. I'm actually fairly sure this is not exactly what she meant/expected... but, watching the episode (or at least, that part) again, this was all I could come up with. It seemed more realistic than Blaine randomly showing up at McKinley, only to overhear someone tell Kurt they knew what he did. So, sorry? (maybe I will write that some other time... it just didn't happen now) Plus, the three chapters before this were all about performances, and the two after this will be too, so I was pretty much in desperate need of a change. Of sorts.

Oh - the first five spoken sentences are all (almost?) literally taken from the episode. So I don't own them and please don't sue.

And... I'll be leaving on a holiday next Wednesday (two weeks with a high chance of (virtually) no internet). So, leave me heaps of reviews and I'll attempt to update before them ;) Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Sighing to himself, Blaine sat outside the car shop. Opening his book bag, he pulled out one of his schoolbooks, planning to at least to something useful while he was stuck here. When his parents had casually asked him last weekend to bring their car to the shop some time this week, he hadn't expected anything to be wrong with the vehicle.

Apparently, there was, as the mechanic who'd had a look at his car just now had told him. Blaine's parents were away on a business trip that lasted at least two weeks, so he couldn't call them to pick him up, or even to just shout at them for letting him do the nasty work (although – of course, that was what the mechanic was doing now. But they'd still left it up to Blaine to get the car repaired, in the middle of a school week). Didn't they know how busy he was? He couldn't call any of his friends either, as he'd had to skip Warbler practice that afternoon in order to make it to the garage before it closed.

Nevertheless, the man (whose co-workers seemed to be free that day) had assured him that the repair wouldn't take too long, and that he'd be able to be back to where he needed to be before it would truly become dark outside. He had also given Blaine a cup of coffee (not like his usual, quality-wise, but it was decent enough for a car shop) – a cup which was now fully empty.

So, to prevent it from being blown away by a gust of wind, Blaine put down his book and his bag, stood up and walked back inside. He wasn't entirely surprised to see that the mechanic now was in the company of a boy Blaine's age – he'd seen him come in, after all; not that the boy had noticed him – but they appeared to be arguing about something. Just as Blaine had thrown his cup away, and made to go back outside again, the boy said something interesting.

"I blew the note. I wanted to lose."

So this boy sang? Judging by his speaking voice, Blaine reckoned he must be able to reach some pretty high notes if he wanted to. He would try to recruit this boy for the Warblers if he wasn't so sure that he didn't even attend Dalton.

The mechanic, who, Blaine guessed, was probably the boy's father (they couldn't be more different, at least at first sight), didn't appear to be very happy by the fact that his son had purposefully lost some sort of competition.

"Dad," the boy started, "I have known who I was since I was five."

As he was now facing his father, who'd just sat down a few feet away from where Blaine was standing, Blaine quickly slid further into the small corridor-of-sorts, not fully outside, but on his way. He knew he shouldn't eavesdrop, but… just this once, that wasn't such a crime, right? Besides, if anyone were to notice him, he could always say he'd only just walked into the shop.

"Being different made me stronger."

Blaine breathed in and out heavily. The exact opposite went for him. Sure, he'd come out, but since that made him so different from most people around him, he'd become unsure. He didn't know what to do most of the time. He tried to appear strong, tried to fool people into believing he knew what he was doing and what was right. He had turned into a version of himself that hadn't always been there, but had only established itself the moment he'd realised that he wasn't like everyone else. He seemed strong and confident on the outside, but on the inside, he was so, so insecure.

He hated it.

"Especially if I get up in front of a thousand people to sing a girl's song."

That was strange, though. The Warblers sang girl's songs all the time, and, as far as Blaine was aware, that had always been the case. Maybe it had to do with the fact that this boy had a higher voice than any boy his age Blaine had ever come across – would people find that offensive? But it wasn't as if this boy could help the fact that he had such a high voice, was it?

"I'm not saying I'm going to hide in the closet – "

In the closet. So his dad knew – and still seemed so, so accepting and – why couldn't Blaine have that with his own father? Why did his father, who was educated and well-mannered and sophisticated, have to be so opposed to the idea that his son was gay? Why did his father never look at him the same way as he'd done before Blaine had come out? Why did he treat his only son as such a disappointment? Wasn't he supposed to be the one to be open-minded enough to accept the fact that his son liked boys instead of girls?

But no, this was Ohio. Where open-mindedness was still not quite existing and where parents treated their children like scum if they'd done something, anything wrong.

And then there was this man – a small-town mechanic, someone who'd probably just wished for a kid who could one day take over his business, but got a gay son instead who wanted to get out of this so-called cow-town as soon as possible. And this man accepted that. This man seemed to support his son as much as he could.

It wasn't fair.

Of course, Blaine was _glad_ that people like this man existed. He was glad that there were parents who unconditionally loved their kid, even if they didn't quite turn out the way they had planned for them to be. However, he couldn't help but envy this boy just a little bit – or maybe more than just a little bit – for having this man as a father.

"Are you okay?" All of a sudden, the boy was standing in front of Blaine, scrutinising him with a slightly concerned look on his face.

"Yeah," Blaine replied weakly, discovering to his horror that he was becoming a little teary-eyed. "I'm fine." And his voice was betraying him as well. Just fantastic.

"There are some tissues over there, if you want one?" the boy said tentatively, and although Blaine wanted to say no and just go to get a breath of fresh air, he found himself nodding sheepishly.

The boy presented him with the box of tissues before he could even walk two steps towards it, and now, the mechanic noticed him as well.

"You okay, kid?" he asked as his son walked off, muttering something about his coveralls.

Again, Blaine nodded. He wasn't fully ready to have a heart-to-heart with this man, or the boy, about his troubled home life or something. "How's the car?" he asked instead.

The man eyed him for another second before turning towards the car. "Most of it's repaired already," he answered somewhat gruffly. "We're going to change this tyre here, and then you should be ready to go home."

Blaine guessed it was best not to ask why the tyre in question needed to be changed, but just smiled weakly. "Alright," he said. "I'll just go back outside then."

"You can wait in here too, you know," the man told him, not seeming to understand why Blaine was so adamant about sitting outdoors.

"It's okay," Blaine replied. "Some fresh air will do me good, I think."

He didn't hear the man's response, but instead headed back out. There, he waited until his car was completely fixed. The mechanic informed him that he'd just send the bill to Blaine's parents, and with that, Blaine was free to leave. Casting one final glance at the boy and his father, Blaine swallowed. It was almost too easy to just tell them his story – but they probably wanted to go home and have dinner too. They had enough stuff going on in their own lives.

"Thanks," he therefore said, stepping into the car, and getting ready to get this car home, and then drive his own car towards Dalton.

Maybe he'd have another chance to talk in the future, and if not – well, then it was clear that he'd done the right thing.

* * *

**A/N**: I hope this wasn't weird or anything. I thought it would be a nice break from all the happiness and such things in (many of) the other chapters :) And as always, let me know what you thought of the chapter, please review! (or, you know, you can also still leave prompts, if you can think of anything :) )


	19. The Rocky Horror Glee Show

**A/N**: So... sorry for the slight delay. I'm currently on holiday and lucky enough to have an internet connection about ten minutes away from where we're staying. Anyway - here's the next chapter. It was requested (though mostly just the episode, not this specifically) by _Lolasatsuma_, _dreamer 3097_, _SeddieShortBus_ and _PawsForThought_. I hope it's (somewhat) like you imagined it :)  
As for the differences as compared to the episode: Sue's not working/conspiring against ND here, so the show can go on :P There are only ND members in the show, so (as, I think, is the case in _Time Warp_) Eddie's played by Mike (whose parents were fine with _that_ role). You can just imagine Carl singing his songs and Mike lip-syncing, or something ;) (not that it's really that important) I personally haven't seen RHPS, but from what I've heard (and read), Finn was not supposed to sing parts of _Time Warp_. Just... imagine that that's not the case here as well - every character gets the lines they would really have. Or something :P

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom! :)

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"Rocky Horror?" Jeff repeated slowly, as though not believing what he'd just heard. Which was probably the case, and which was exactly how the other Warblers felt as well. "You want us to attend the Rocky Horror Show?"

"It's something related to the Warblers," Wes defended the idea. "So yes, I expect you all to be attending the show."

"Do you want to do Rocky Horror for Sectionals, or what?" Blaine asked, frowning. "Because I'm not entirely comfortable with singing lead, if that's the case."

Wes waved it off. "No, we're not singing Rocky Horror at Sectionals," he assured the group.

"Aren't there some… risqué parts in that show?" Cameron piped up. "Wouldn't we need permission from our parents to go?"

Wes positively glowed as he stood up. "I already checked with the faculty, and we don't. See, the performance we'll be attending is one done by high school students, like ourselves. The directors already cut out the more risqué parts."

"A bunch of high schoolers performing Rocky Horror?" Jeff asked. "As in, there's a high school in Ohio that lets its drama club do _that_?"

"Oh, no drama club," Wes replied. "A Glee club. One we might very well be competing against during Sectionals."

"Not Carmel, right?" Nick asked, obviously dreading the answer. It wouldn't even be such a far-fetched idea; Carmel would let Vocal Adrenaline get away with anything, it seemed.

"No, Nick, we don't need anymore trauma's," David said, speaking up for the first time.

"It's at William McKinley High in Lima," Wes told them. "Their Glee club is New Directions." Light murmurs broke out, but he shushed those immediately, slamming his gavel down. "The show's next Saturday, so make sure you're free that night."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Walking through the McKinley halls on Saturday, Blaine wasn't entirely sure what to think. Was it a school where students just ran amok and teachers turned a blind eye towards anything that might require their attention? That seemed to be the only explanation possible as to why a bunch of underage students were able to perform a show like _this_. Sure, according to Wes, there was a teacher involved, but that was still no reason for high school students to do this.

"The April Rhodes Civic Pavilion," Thad read out loud, frowning up at something that turned out to be the entrance to the McKinley High auditorium. "Who's April Rhodes?" he asked after a few seconds.

"Let's look that up once we're back at Dalton," David suggested mildly, slowly pushing Thad through the doors while dragging Wes along. The other Warblers followed too, still eyeing the name apprehensively.

There weren't a lot of people in the auditorium. A bunch of adults was sitting at the front, some with smaller children accompanying them. Blaine figured that they must be the performers' families. Apart from those people, however, the Warblers were the only ones there.

"Maybe everyone else has yet to come?" Jeff asked, as though reading Blaine's mind. Sitting down a few rows behind the families, Blaine nodded.

As it turned out, no one else showed up. For another ten minutes, Blaine just observed the families, as they chatted a little amongst one another. The other Warblers were still trying to work out who April Rhodes was (as there were no useful results as they looked for her on Google) when a man (very likely the director of the play) entered the stage and welcomed everyone, thanking them for coming. He seemed a bit put out that more people hadn't shown up, though he did try to conceal it.

" – You may also notice that we're not complete tonight," the man was saying just as Blaine started paying attention again. "One of the New Directions members, Noah Puckerman, will not appear on stage, as he's currently in juvie – "

"Juvie?" Nick asked, his left eye already twitching awfully. "One of their members is in juvie?"

Blaine was starting to feel a little queasy as well now. This place seemed to take the whole public school image to an entirely new level.

Luckily, their minds were taken off of this slightly disturbing fact when the show started, and Brad and Janet came on stage. Janet, Blaine noted, really looked like… well, Janet. Brad, though perhaps a little too tall, seemed to fit his role perfectly as well. Blaine didn't know why he was so surprised about this (perhaps because he hadn't expected this from a public school play?), but at least it wasn't a bad surprise.

The actors knew their lines, they had obviously rehearsed the play thoroughly, and even though it was clear that there were parts missing from the musical, it hadn't been cut as drastically as Blaine had expected beforehand. The most notable difference was probably the fact that Frank N. Furterwas played by a girl. Maybe that Puckerman guy had had that role at first, and they'd given this girl the part when he'd been sent off to juvie? There were more roles for guys than for girls in the play, so there would've been girls without a real role.

Only halfway through the play, he remembered what they were actually really here for: see and hear what their potential Sectionals competition was like. Which was slightly depressing, as all these characters sounded like great singers. Whether the Warblers would compete against them or Vocal Adrenaline, they had their work cut out for them.

When the play was over, most people left the auditorium, and instead loitered in the hallway. For a moment, Blaine wondered why, until he remembered that the Warblers were possibly the only non-family members to come watch. While the other guys just stood there, glancing around, the three council members were discussing something.

"If you want to return to Dalton, you may," David announced to the group in the end. "We're going to stick around for a little longer to see if we can speak with some of the group members, or maybe their director. Perhaps that'll give us some more information about them."

Blaine was about to reply when he saw one of the most surprising sights he'd ever seen. There, among the other parents, were two men, standing arm in arm, clearly together. You didn't see that a lot in small town Ohio. Becoming more and more curious, Blaine inched closer to them (but making sure he still stood at a safe distance). He vaguely registered most of his teammates leaving, with only himself and the council remaining (which was just as well, seeing as he'd arrived with them too).

The two men were exchanging small-talk with another couple. Blaine felt a little conflicted; on one hand, he wanted to know more about these people, find out stuff about how they'd dealt with all kinds of obstacles in their lives. On the other hand, he didn't want to eavesdrop: it wasn't as if these men were about to discuss their private lives with everyone they met, so there was only a small chance that he'd hear something remotely useful.

He was about to head back to his friends (who were huddled together nearby) when two other teens approached the group Blaine was observing. It didn't take him long to recognise them as Brad and Janet – they hadn't really needed a complete make-over for their roles. The girl immediately bounded over to the two men, while the boy hung back.

Wow. That girl certainly talked fast. Only after one minute, Blaine could feel his brain hurt. She was talking only about herself, too. What was up with that?

The boy was being complimented on his performance by the woman (his mother?), while the man just nodded at him. Without being questioned about the matter, the tall boy told him, "Kurt's coming. He was washing off the make-up and fixing his hair – "

"Not everyone had roles that fit them so easily as we did," the girl interrupted him. "It was far more difficult for us to see the differences between – "

"Yes, Rachel, we know. You told us that a thousand times."

Blaine whipped around in surprise. He hadn't even heard footsteps approaching. He also would never have guessed that this school's Riff-Raff looked like this when out of costume. And now, he had been spotted, not only by the boy, but by everyone he'd just been spying on.

"Who are you?" the girl asked, placing her hands on her hips.

The others regarded him suspiciously as well. "There were other people watching the show except our parents?" the tall guy asked, sounding surprised.

"Apparently," the other boy replied. He looked Blaine over and raised his eyebrows. "But why?"

"That's a bit of a long story," Blaine answered in a small voice. "I'd rather not – "

"I don't think I've ever seen you around here," the girl said accusingly.

"That's probably because we're not from around here." Suddenly, Blaine was surrounded by his friends. Wes shrugged and continued, "We heard about the play, and were curious. So, we came here to watch."

"And listen," Thad supplied quasi-helpfully.

"And listen," Wes agreed.

"You were good," David told the three students.

The tall boy grinned happily at them, but the girl wasn't fooled so easily. While the man and woman fawned over the two boys, she crossed her arms and started glaring the Warblers down. "You still haven't said who you are. And – how did you hear about the play?"

Blaine blinked. How _had_ Wes heard about the play?

Said council member shuffled on his feet. "I – overheard some people talking about it some time," he replied.

"You did?" David asked, surprised. "I don't remember anything about that at all…"

"You weren't there," Wes explained. "It was during an… Asian get together of sorts… I heard a man and a woman talk about their son playing in the Rocky Horror Show at school, so I investigated that a little further…"

The girl started muttering angrily, looking around (probably for said parents and son). "But isn't it a good thing that more people saw your show this way?" David asked her.

"It is," she replied, smiling brightly. "People should just be more careful when giving out information like that. It could find its way to people who are not supposed to know some things."

"Like a competing choir?" Thad asked, and Blaine wasn't sure if he was extremely oblivious in that moment, or trying to get on the girl's nerves. Knowing Thad, it could be either.

"Exactly!" the girl exclaimed. By now, the tall boy and his mum had joined her again, while the other four were quietly talking, the boy looking a little uncomfortable.

"At least Vocal Adrenaline wasn't here," the tall boy said, and the girl nodded earnestly.

"The Warblers were," David informed them, then seemed to rethink that. Blaine could only agree – he shouldn't have said that. Who knew what was going to happen now.

"The who?" the tall boy asked, very confused.

"The Warblers," the girl repeated David's words. She was deep in thought. "From that private school in Westerville? An a cappella choir?"

The four boys exchanged glances. Most people, even the ones in the show choir business, hadn't ever heard of them. The fact that this girl had worried them.

"That's us," Wes admitted with a sigh, half-glaring at David.

"That's _you_?" the girl shrieked. Everyone turned around to stare at her (and, by extension, the four Dalton boys as well), but looked away soon after. Maybe they were used to this behaviour.

"Rachel, honey, calm down," one of the men Blaine had spotted earlier said, approaching her and placing a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from attacking the boys. It was a rather frightening sight.

"What's you?" the other boy, the one who'd played Riff-Raff on the show, asked, eyeing the girl disdainfully.

The girl pointed at the four boys opposite her and replied in a vengeful tone, "They're the _Warblers_, Kurt."

"The who?" the boy asked, glancing at them.

"Another Glee club," the taller boy supplied helpfully.

"So shortly before Sectionals?" the other boy asked, raising an eyebrow. "You must have a death wish."

"Not exactly," Wes replied in a small voice.

"This was more or less a public performance, we paid to get in here, and there's been no news about who everyone's competing against," Thad added, having finally come to his senses, it appeared. "If you wanted nobody from outside to attend this play, you shouldn't have made the tickets available for everyone."

"That's true," the shorter boy admitted.

The girl, however, was still fuming. "We _will_ get out revenge," she promised them. Her eyes were almost shooting fire now, or maybe that was just Blaine's imagination.

Wes and David looked about to argue when the shorter boy (though Blaine noticed that he himself was even shorter) said, "I think you'd better go." His voice had a warning tone to it, and Blaine knew that they shouldn't risk overstaying their welcome any more.

"We should," he agreed, smiling apologetically. "But for what it's worth, we really did enjoy the show. You're all great performers."

The two boys smiled at this, while the girl said, "I know I am. But it's nice that other people recognise my talent as well."

The shorter boy rolled his eyes at her, but didn't speak up. Apparently, this was something the club must be used to as well. Blaine couldn't wait to face these people during some competition.

No wait. He could.

"Let's go," Wes instructed them. "I think we've seen enough."

As they walked out, Blaine couldn't help but feel the slightest bit threatened by what the girl had told them. They would get their revenge… what did she mean by that? The Warblers would have to watch their every step now, that was all he knew.

* * *

**A/N**: So... what do you think? Let me know if you have any questions/comments/prompts, or just _want_ to say something - please review! :D


	20. The Power of Madonna

**A/N**: Here's chapter 20! I actually can't believe that there are really 20 chapters to this story! :D A huge thank you to everyone who's been sticking by this story all this time :D And to celebrate, this is another cheerleader!Kurt chapter - I hope you like it :P This was prompted by _cool-girl027_, _ChroniclesofNarniaGoTandSJA_ and _SBDGirl88_ - part of it, that is (as this chapter sort of consists of two parts; I didn't want to include the second part at first, but then it just happened, as it usually does :P). Some of the things here are similar to what I wrote in chapter 4 (or is that just my imagination?), so I apologise if that's too irritating for any of you.  
... And somehow, Rachel managed to wiggle her way into this chapter as well. It's nearly impossible to keep her out, it seems.

Two more things! As I said in chapter 15 or 16 or somewhere, I've decided to stop with the season 2/season 1 alternation I've kept up until this point, starting next chapter (or actually, the one after that). This basically means that there will be more chapters set in season 2 than in season 1. Besides, who knows what great opportunities for a first meeting season 3 will bring us ;) There will still be season 1 meetings, but not necessarily every other chapter :)  
Second thing: I'm on tumblr as well now! I haven't done much so far except reblogging and reading a bunch of stuff, but in case you're inclined to follow me, my username there is flyinrabbit ([dot]tumblr[dot]com, of course) (yes, I'm well aware of how unoriginal I am, thank you) :)

Hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom!

* * *

Wes and David exchanged exasperated looks. Normally, _they_ were the ones with the strange ideas, but Blaine was now giving them a run for their money.

"Please tell us, Blaine, why did you want to go there again?" Wes asked, frowning a little. "We're going to visit a public school – why?"

Blaine just grinned back. "I heard through the grapevine that they're doing all sorts of things with Madonna this week and – she's an icon, guys! Maybe if we see what they're all up to, we could gather some ideas for the Warblers! It's never too early to start thinking about the next competition, is it?"

Again, David and Wes exchanged glances. Damn, they'd rubbed off on their friend a little too much.

"Who are doing what with Madonna's music?" David asked.

"I don't know," Blaine said, sounding a little too cheery for their liking. "The cheerleaders, at least, but perhaps – "

"Sure," Wes said hastily, before Blaine would inevitably change his mind all of a sudden.

"Let's go," David added, already out of the door.

Blaine just shook his head disbelievingly. If he'd known he only had to mention the involvement of cheerleaders in this to get his friends to come along, he wouldn't have had to try so hard.

"Come on, Blaine," Wes almost whined. "We can afford to miss our afternoon classes for once, right?"

Blaine completely agreed. After all, if he didn't, why would he have suggested going in the first place?

o-o-o-o-o-o

"So… would either of you care to explain why we didn't remember to change out of uniform?" David asked when they finally stood in front of the school. Finding a parking spot had been pretty difficult, but that was probably nothing compared to sneaking into the school and finding the Madonna related activities unnoticed.

"You were in too much of a hurry to even suggest it?" Blaine said, attempting to find an explanation.

"And why couldn't you?" Wes asked him.

Blaine shrugged. "You wouldn't have listened anyway. You heard the word 'cheerleaders' and couldn't think of anything else."

"That's true," David admitted a little bashfully.

"Maybe we should leave our blazers in the car?" Blaine suggested. "That's not a piece of clothing public school kids normally wear."

Wes nodded fervently. "I wouldn't support the leaving behind of our blazer in any other circumstances, but this is an emergency," he said.

"And our ties?" David asked Blaine. "Is that normal school wear, or should we leave them here as well?"

Blaine contemplated this for a moment. "Let's leave those here too."

After that, they finally entered the school. It must've been the end of a class, as students were milling about everywhere. Slightly disorientated, Blaine tried to find anything that could point them towards Madonna related activities. Only half a minute later, he realised that her music was blasting from the speakers. Wow. How could he have overlooked that?

"What kind of school _is_ this?" Wes whispered (Blaine could hardly hear him over the music). He sounded a little frightened. "Since when is it normal for a school to play loud music throughout the school during school hours?"

"It's not normal," Blaine replied, shaking his head. "Must be some new educational measure."

"No it's not," a voice said from behind them. Not expecting that, the three Dalton students jumped and turned around.

Behind them, a tall, blond woman in a track suit stood inspecting them, almost making the boys shrink in size. They tried to back away, but something about this woman told Blaine that she'd find them anyway, wherever they went, so perhaps, it would be better to just stay and face their fears now. Who knew, it might just only get worse later on.

Or maybe not. The woman chewed them out because she didn't know them, because they were all wearing the same thing, because Blaine was short (that was not his fault, damn it!), because… well, a lot of stuff. It was rather upsetting.

"We don't go to school here," David said bravely when the woman stopped talking for a moment. "We – it was Blaine's idea," he finished, pulling Blaine in front of him to face the scary woman.

When the woman proceeded to insult Blaine's hair next, he wondered if it could get much worse.

"You should know that I don't respond well to other teams sending spies," the woman informed him.

"Spies?" Blaine asked, hating the fact that his voice had risen in pitch. "We're not spies! We just – heard that you were doing things related to Madonna here, so we wanted to see what was going on."

"And report that back to your own cheerleading team," the woman finished.

"No!" Wes exclaimed, then seemed to go mute again.

"We go to an all boys school, we don't have cheerleaders," David added mournfully.

The woman narrowed her eyes at them. "Maybe I could ship you three off to New York with thirty-five dollars in your pockets," she said. "Maybe that would convince Figgins to do the same those misfits in Schuester's Glee club."

"Glee club?" Blaine asked.

"We're in a Glee club," David blurted out, before realising that that may not have been the right thing to say to this woman.

However, at this, the woman smiled victoriously. "Then I can use you to get rid of Schuester's poor excuse for a choir," she told them. "You beat them during their next competition and they're officially a thing of the past."

"We got beat by Vocal Adrenaline during Sectionals," David meekly informed her. This set off another raging stampede and before they knew it, the woman left.

"So… does this mean we're not getting thrown out?" Wes asked, sounding confused.

David shrugged. "I guess it does."

Most students seemed to be currently walking in one direction only, so the three Warblers followed them curiously. "Maybe a Madonna performance?" Blaine wondered out loud, smiling widely.

"With cheerleaders!" David exclaimed, and he and Wes looked like Christmas had come early this year.

Blaine would never understand straight guys. Nor would he ever understand what was so great about cheerleaders. They were just a bunch of stupid girls in short skirts who happened to be very athletically talented. Nothing special, right?

Indeed, the students led them to the gym. Blaine had some trouble staying up right as everyone all but ran in there, and Wes and David had also disappeared all of a sudden.

Blaine looked around the gym, which was packed. There was a marching band standing on the floor, but no sign of cheerleaders. If they had walked into the marching band's tribute to Madonna – well, that would be disappointing for Wes and David. Blaine thought it might be very interesting, to say the least.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before he re-located his friends, and he quickly walked towards them. They had even managed to save him a seat. Sitting down in between them, Blaine noticed that both other boys looked a little downcast indeed.

"Didn't that woman say something about spying on cheerleaders?" Wes asked, sounding rather sad.

"She did," David agreed. "So where are they? I want to see the cheerleaders!"

This exclamation brought about a lot of appreciative and agreeing murmurs around them, and Blaine had to forcibly refrain himself from pulling a face. Where on earth had he landed himself now?

A couple of minutes later, nobody was walking around anymore, and everyone in the school seemed to have found themselves a seat. The blond woman who had confronted the Warblers earlier walked forward with a megaphone in her hands. Something (a clock?) started ticking, and she yelled something. Instantly, the marching band started playing a very familiar tune.

"_Four minutes_?" Wes asked, looking around. "That's interesting…" After a few seconds, his jaw went slack and, Blaine noted, David's did as well. Cheerleaders started dancing into the gym. Right when Blaine started wondering if it was just music or if someone was going to sing, a girl's voice was heard, and his question was answered.

Within seconds, another voice joined the girl's, and this voice was definitely male. Blaine shifted in his seat. He hadn't even thought about the possibility of this squad containing male cheerleaders. Maybe this whole cheerleading fetish Wes and David seemed to have wasn't that silly after all.

At first, Blaine thought it to be very unfortunate that his friends had chosen seats that caused them to constantly looked at the backs of the performers – that was, until he realised exactly what he was staring at. The male singer. More specifically, the lower regions of his body. Blushing furiously (because he liked to consider himself a gentleman, and what kind of gentleman stared at other people's behinds?), Blaine tried to pry his eyes away. Instead, he glanced around the gym for half a second –

Oh _God_.

That noise sounded more obscene than it was probably intended to be, and Blaine wondered who had allowed that boy to make such a sound. Either way, he greatly appreciated the excellent view he was provided with by the movement the boy made at that same moment.

Blaine needed a moment to catch his breath after that, and thus, he missed most of the girl's part. And then, the boy was right in front of him (well, sort of). It might not be very charming, sitting there with his mouth open wide, trying to remember what the boy's face looked like as quickly as possible, but Blaine couldn't help himself. If anyone asked, he would blame the boy for being so… beautiful.

At the moment, he was very glad for the fact that Wes and David had managed to get spots not too far down – at least now he was able to see what happened past the marching band. For the next few seconds, the two singers danced along with the other cheerleaders and wow, they were all rather talented. Not that Blaine ever took his eyes off of the one boy in their midst. Those legs, those hips, that ass… how was this boy real? How could he be so perfect? And that back, those arms, that neck…

Blaine felt like he could sit there forever, just watching the boy, and be completely content. It was a little scary, actually. But that didn't make it any less true.

For a moment, Blaine seemed to have lost sight of the boy, but then he reappeared – moving, dancing, singing along like a born performer. Blaine kept craning his neck to not miss a second of this amazing and, dare he say it, _hot_ performance. He almost lost it as the boy slid down to the ground, back to back with the girl, and he was shocked to find he'd never felt as jealous of anybody ever before.

And with every glimpse of the boy's face he caught, Blaine thought he was becoming more and more beautiful. Never before had he thought a boy was beautiful. Handsome, yes. Most boys, however, were just not… beautiful. He wondered how this boy managed to pull that off successfully.

When the performance was over, Blaine was one of the first people to jump to his feet, applauding loudly. Wes and David appeared to be in some sort of trance; they were staring towards the cheerleaders with wide eyes and Blaine swore that he even saw some drool.

Gross.

Still, he swiftly wiped off his own mouth to make sure he wasn't drooling himself. To be honest, it wouldn't have surprised him.

Everyone was still clapping when the boy and the girl made their way over to the scary woman (who was probably the cheerleading coach). She was talking to a man Blaine couldn't see very well from this distance. He didn't seem happy about something, but nobody seemed to agree with him.

Blaine was a bit confused when everybody sat back down – wasn't the show over yet? Finally, Wes and David woke up from their haze, and blinked simultaneously. "Is it over?" Wes asked, sounding very disappointed.

"That was really good, don't you think?" David asked.

"Good?" Blaine asked, frowning. "That was amazing, it was… incredible! The single best Madonna tribute I have ever seen!"

For a moment, Wes and David just stared at him. "Oh, right," David said in the end. "There was a male cheerleader involved, wasn't there?"

Blaine was saved from further embarrassment when the students around them started standing up again, and slowly filing out of the gym. Quickly, the three Dalton boys followed them, and immediately went back to the parking place (which was, luckily, rather easy to find).

It had been quite the afternoon.

Little did they know, their public school Madonna adventure wasn't quite over yet.

o-o-o-o-o

The next day at lunch, David and Wes crept up to Blaine, grabbed his arms, and dragged him out of the cafeteria. He didn't even have time to eat.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking from David to Wes and back. "What's the rush?"

"Wes got a call during Chemistry," David told him conspiringly. "Guess who it was."

"How should I know?" Blaine asked. It could've been anyone.

David glanced around, but they were alone in the hallway. "That scary cheerleading coach we saw yesterday."

Blaine raised his eyebrows. "How on earth did she get your number?"

Wes shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. I asked, but she ignored me. She just told me to go to the McKinley auditorium this afternoon. I have no idea why."

And naturally, even though they had been taught better, the three boys did just as the crazy woman told them.

o-o-o-o-o

When they arrived, there was already a bunch of people present. The Dalton boys chose to sit close to the stage – there, they could pay the best attention (what if it was another cheerleading performance?). And it wasn't as if anyone here would recognise them.

This time, it took a little longer before the performance started. They had, after all, been a little early. At last, a lone girl walked onto the stage, beaming at the crowd that had gathered, and she stood right in the middle of it. For another few moments, that was all that happened, but then, music started. No marching band this time, though, so Blaine figured he would be severely disappointed.

As disappointed as he could be when a group of teens (who were hopefully good singers) sang _Like a prayer_.

When the girl finished the first verse of the song, more people entered the stage, and Blaine felt Wes grabbing his arm rather painfully. "Look!" Wes whispered excitedly. "The girl next to her – she's one of those cheerleaders!"

Blaine wondered if Wes had actually remembered all the cheerleaders' faces, or just this girl's. His other arm was quickly getting a treatment similar to the first, as David squeezed it. "And there's the girl who sang _Four minutes_!" he told Blaine.

Wait, that was strange. If this was the school's Glee club, which was the most logical thing the three Warblers had been able to come up with during the drive here, why would the crazy cheerleading coach want to destroy it? Some of her cheerleaders were in the show choir as well.

"Uh, guys," Blaine muttered. "Look to the right." They did, and David's jaw dropped, while Wes rubbed his eyes to see if the person he was seeing was really there.

"Jesse St James?" Wes asked in a disbelieving tone. "This isn't Vocal Adrenaline, right? No – they're not. What's he doing here, then?"

But Blaine didn't hear the rest of Wes' monologue (or David's reply), as he suddenly noticed who was standing behind Carmel's golden boy – the boy who'd sung _Four minutes_ along with the girl who was, indeed, right there as well. Of course – Blaine mentally chastised himself. Of course he was in the Glee club as well. When one sang as well as that boy, it would be an awful waste of talent if he wouldn't be in a choir of sorts.

Now, Blaine could see more of the boy's face too. He was just about to think that nothing could possibly improve this day any further when the boy started singing. And _wow_, that just blew Blaine away. Apparently, this boy could also sing much higher notes, notes Blaine knew (from experience and otherwise) many guys couldn't reach, no matter how hard they tried.

He was impressed. _Very_ impressed.

It was too bad that he didn't get to sing too much. Blaine felt an almost familiar surge of jealousy when the boy on stage pecked his earlier duet partner on the cheek before she sang the next few lines.

And then a choir appeared. A church choir, or at least, that was what it looked like to Blaine.

It could be Blaine, but he didn't think it was _entirely_ appropriate to sing this song with a _church choir_. But then again, maybe it was.

Still, it was fun to see the teenagers mingle with the older members of the other choir. They seemed to be having fun. Plus, it sounded really good.

When they were about to head out, they heard a voice. "Hey, you! Warblers!"

They had been recognised? Well, that sort of sucked. Slowly turning around, the three of them came face to face with Jesse St James.

"Uh, hi?" Wes greeted him, attempting a (false) smile. "Funny seeing you here…"

Jesse took a moment to reply. "Well, seeing as I'm part of New Directions now, I'd say it's funnier that _you_ are here."

"You're in… what now?" David asked, bemused. "Why would you – "

"Hey, Jesse!" a girl greeted him happily, and said boy wrapped an arm around her. "Who are your friends?"

St James snorted. "No friends, just some private school boys who apparently haven't been humiliated enough when Vocal Adrenaline beat their little club at Sectionals."

The girl whipped around to face them somewhat angrily. "You're here to spy on us."

"As _he_ just said," Wes started, nodding towards St James with barely visible dislike, "our club was beaten at Sectionals. We're not advancing to Regionals."

"So why are you here?" the girl asked. Her boyfriend (at least, Blaine assumed that that was what St James was) walked away now, most likely very uninterested in hearing their story.

"That's a long story," David muttered. "But if you wanted me to summarise that in one word… Madonna."

"And cheerleaders," Wes supplied happily.

The girl didn't appear to know how to respond to that. "But we're not cheerleaders," she muttered.

"Speak for yourself, Berry," a Latina (the girl Wes had pointed out earlier) shouted her way as she walked past, one of her pinkies linked with that of a blond girl.

The girl looked quite disgruntled. "_Fine_," she spat, even though her two teammates were, by now, out of earshot. "Most of us aren't cheerleaders. I don't get what's so special about that anyway."

"Well, you're a girl," David pointed out. "You won't appreciate how the feminine body looks in a cheerleading uniform as much as most guys do." He pointedly looked at Blaine here.

Blaine rolled his eyes at that. "Those are surprisingly eloquent and sophisticated words for someone who was _drooling_ at the sight of girls in cheerleading uniforms just yesterday."

David stuck out his tongue. "And _that's _coming from the guy who couldn't stop talking and moaning about – oh, hello!"

Blaine turned back towards the girl, only to find that she had found new company. Company in the form of the beautiful male cheerleader with the marvellous voice.

Only when both Wes and David poked him harshly in the ribs, Blaine realised that he must've gone into some sort of trance. Reddening slightly, he smiled apologetically at the boy. "Hi," he muttered.

When did Blaine become so lost for words? Oh, right. As soon as he was face to face with this gorgeous guy.

"Hi," the boy greeted him back, eyeing him apprehensively. "Who are they?" he asked the girl, who immediately stood a bit straighter (not that it mattered much for her height).

"According to Jesse, and themselves, they're in some Glee club that didn't make it past their Sectionals."

"We're standing right here, remember?" Wes said, sounding slightly peeved.

"They said something about Madonna and cheerleaders being the main reasons they came," the girl continued, outright ignoring Wes and his comment.

The boy paled slightly. "Madonna and cheerleaders?"

David nodded. "Yeah. Wes and I came mainly for the cheerleaders. Blaine here, however, is a big Madonna fan."

The two public school students exchanged looks. "How many straight guys are there who are big Madonna fans?" the girl asked; Blaine had a strong feeling that it might even be a rhetorical question.

Wes and David just frowned at her. "If that's your way of asking Blaine whether or not he's gay, you're doing an awful job at being subtle," David told her. The girl flushed, scoffed, and crossed her arms.

"But if you're truly curious," Blaine added, just to get this over with, "then yes. I'm gay." He eyed the boy and the girl closely to see their reaction. They didn't seem to suddenly be repulsed by him or anything. Still, it was always good to take precautions.

"I thought you were," the girl said, nodding. "I have two gay dads, you know, so – "

"Rachel, shut up," the boy told her bluntly. "They didn't ask for your life story."

"And Kurt here is gay too," the girl continued with a wide (fake) smile, nudging the boy next to her. "Maybe you should hang out and talk some time. It'll be good for you, having someone your age to talk to about those things. My dads say so too. And I always ask them if they've seen you at their meetings, but you never come. It's important, Kurt – "

"Yes, thank you, Rachel," the boy interrupted her again. Turning towards the Warblers (but mostly Blaine, who gulped at that), he said, "Sorry about her. She just talks and talks and no one quite knows how to get her to stop." After a brief pause, he hesitantly added, "Maybe now that Jesse joined us, he'll be able to help us out in that department."

Before the girl could protest, Wes spoke up. "So he's now in your Glee club? Isn't that a bit suspicious, so close to Regionals?"

The boy shrugged helplessly. "That's what we all said – well, except for Rachel, of course – when he joined, but according to our director, his transfer is official and true and all that, so we have virtually no choice but to let him in."

"But she's right about one thing," David piped up, and Blaine had a bad feeling about this. A moment later, that bad feeling had proven to be reliable, as David continued with, "You two _should_ meet up some time. You know, talk about experiences and… stuff."

"Experiences and… stuff," the boy repeated, staring at David as if he'd grown a second head. "You're no more eloquent than most boys at McKinley." He scoffed, and turned to Blaine. After scrutinising him for a moment, he shrugged. "That's fine with me – if he's more talkative than he is now, at least."

"Oh, yeah, he is," Wes replied, nodding enthusiastically. "He's an enormous chatterbox, Blaine is. He's just… a big fan, so to say."

The girl grinned happily. "A big fan?" she asked, clearly fishing for compliments.

"He's gay," David reminded her, not seeming to understand what she was so cheerful about. "And he took one look at you," he continued, now turning to the boy, "and bam! He was sold."

Neither the boy nor the girl seemed to have seen this coming, but while the girl stomped off irately, muttering about how some people must really be blind and deaf and whatnot, the boy just stayed where he was. "A big fan?" he repeated, before snorting. "That's new. But at least he doesn't hate me on principle."

That was just sad, Blaine mused. Who would hate such a perfect boy? Who would try to harm him, and why? "I doubt I could," he told Kurt seriously. The other boy smiled wryly.

"Well, in that case, I reckon we could hang out some time," he said, smiling a little. "But only if you tell me the whole story behind this visit when we do," he added warningly, and Blaine was quick to comply.

After swiftly exchanging phone numbers, Blaine had to leave with his friends, and Kurt noticed that he, too, needed to go home by now – his dad must be wondering what took him so long. Saying their goodbyes, Blaine noticed some of Kurt's teammates giving them odd looks. He could only hope that they wouldn't give Kurt too much grief about this.

* * *

**A/N**: You know, only when I was writing the part where Rachel told the Warblers Kurt was gay too, I remembered that Kurt was still crushing very hard on Finn at this point. Jeez, even when she's dating another guy she tries to keep Kurt away from Finn :S But now Blaine can try to get Kurt over his crush, right?

Ahem. Anyway, what did you think? :D Let me know if you have any questions/comments/thoughts/ideas-for-other-chapters-also-known-as-prompts - please review! :D


	21. The Sue Sylvester Shuffle

**A/N**: Not sure if I'm happy with this one (though I hope you will be...). The meeting here is slightly... different from the ones in other chapter, but I suppose you'll see that when you get there. They can't all be entirely happy/fluffy meetings anyway, at least in my opinion. Anyway, you know, I made this list thing some time ago with all the prompts I got from you and for this, I only had 'Superbowl episode'. I knew some people requested it - and when I just went to have a look at the original request, this is not like that request _at all_ -_-' (which essentially means, _njferrell_, that I will be writing something for your prompt soon... I hope. If I continue writing at this rate, it might take a while anyway)  
Meh. I will now repeat some stuff I've said before - namely, I don't know a thing about American Football, so I'm sorry if there are any mistakes in this. I took some cues from the episode(s) for that. As you also may have already noticed, I'm quite bad at describing performances that are going on so it's all pretty vague. You can all rewatch it anyway if you want to ;) And, some differences as compared to the episode: let's just say that here, it was Burt (or someone else if you'd rather) instead of Blaine who 'accidentally' told the Glee kids about the loophole in high school football. And, since Kurt's still at McKinley, Lauren's not in ND and thus, not on the field. Kurt is. I think that's about it :)

Hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom! :D

* * *

It was cold. Very cold. Blaine wondered why he had agreed to join Wes and David tonight as they went to a school somewhere in Ohio for the high school football championship game to cheer on one of David's cousins.

Oh, right. He loved football, possibly more than any of his friends did. He didn't play the sport himself, but he knew that he would've at least tried out if he'd been a bit taller, if he'd had a little more talent, and if football players and other jocks weren't typically the people known to bully gay kids in high school. Blaine had jumped at the opportunity to tag along, back when they'd first mentioned it. He hadn't realised it would be so cold, though.

No, Blaine didn't entirely fit the gay stereotype – something he was sometimes glad for. Not that it was a bad thing, fitting the stereotype, but for him, it was a good thing. People didn't immediately assume that he was gay, which meant that he'd managed to stay mostly anonymous at his old school for a long time. Only when people around him started to notice something off about him, the whispers had started and he'd become the centre of everyone's attention.

In the most negative way imaginable.

Either way, he was looking forward to seeing the game. The team David's cousin was up against had, apparently, been at the bottom of the ranks the previous year. And the one before that. This year, a new coach had taken over and all of a sudden, the team was one of the top contenders for the state title. That was fishy, as far as Blaine was concerned, and he knew which team he hoped would win.

The visiting team (the one Blaine was rooting for) was slowly gathering on the field, but the other team was strangely absent. Well – there was one player already getting ready, and as Blaine watched, a bunch of other bulky guys approached him. They _seemed_ like football players, but they weren't dressed to play a game anytime soon. Maybe they were from some rival team, coming to watch the home team get defeated?

"You're kidding," Wes whispered incredulously. He jabbed Blaine and David in the ribs and pointed towards the field. Amidst several 'real' football players, a group of smaller people, apparently ready to play this game, entered the field.

"They're letting a bunch of girls play?" David asked, clearly not believing his eyes either. "I thought they were genuinely good this year…"

Blaine frowned at the new players. He wasn't a misogynist or anything, but he seriously doubted these girls' ability to play football and win this game. Most of them were even smaller than he was.

The bulkier guys who'd just walked up to the first McKinley player on the field had spotted the new players as well. They, like Blaine and his friends, seemed completely caught off guard.

Narrowing his eyes – they did sit a little too far away to make it out clearly – Blaine muttered, "I don't think they're all girls."

Wes and David stared at him for a moment before turning back to the field. "Oh, yeah," David said sheepishly, now also realising that the tallest of the group was actually a guy. But not a guy you'd normally expect on a football field. He was taller than Blaine, yes, but he was also thinner, and somehow, he seemed… fragile.

Who in their right mind would let someone like that play in a football game? Blaine glanced at David's cousin and his teammates. They would probably tear the boy apart within seconds.

Blaine didn't know why that made him so anxious.

The group on the field was definitely enthusiastic, Blaine observed. His observations were cut short when Wes jabbed him once more. "Look!" he hissed. "There's a kid in a wheelchair as well!"

David was frowning by now. "Are they trying to poke fun at the other team by putting all these people on the field?" he asked, sounding very unhappy about the whole ordeal.

"They're the ones that look like fools," Wes tried to soothe him, but David shook his head.

"It's like they're trying to ridicule the entire game," he said. Blaine had to admit, it would be a logical explanation for this situation.

When the referee blew his whistle for the first time, and all the players gathered around him, Blaine realised that half of the team didn't seem to have any idea of what they were doing – the quarterback was showing them their positions, and they looked extremely nervous.

"Is it just me, or aren't there nearly enough players on that squad?" Wes asked, confused.

Blaine shook his head. "They let you play with a few players short in high school football," he told his friend dismissively, not wanting to miss the start of the game.

What on earth –

As soon as the game really began, the smaller players on the home team just lay flat on the ground. They weren't even trying to play, they just… laid down.

Seeing Wes and David's incredulous looks, Blaine shrugged. "They don't _have_ to play. There just ought to be enough players on the field…" However, he wasn't sure if this tactic was going to win this team the game.

The match continued exactly like this – as soon as the whistle sounded, the smaller players got out of the way. Once or twice, Blaine noticed the boy get up after that, trying to help out somehow, but it was no use. He knew he should be glad – after all, he was here to support the opponents.

Shortly before halftime, one of the girls suddenly started running towards the ball and, once she had it, she tried to score. Blaine's eyebrows rose to a new level as he watched her run. She wasn't fast enough, and the crowd in the stadium quieted immediately when she was tackled by a guy twice her size. Luckily, she was still breathing, and seemed alright. Blaine just hoped she wouldn't try something like that again. He didn't even know the girl, but still. Everyone was worried, right? And he certainly didn't want anyone to _die_ tonight.

One of the girls on the field pulled off her helmet to talk to her team's quarterback, who then proceeded to give instructions to a couple of his other teammates. Then, he ran off of the field, leaving a bunch of rather confused spectators behind.

"Where's he going?" David asked, turning to Blaine immediately, as if he, with all his knowledge about football, should know the answer to that question as well.

"I don't know," Blaine scoffed.

"Maybe he's going to hide away in shame," Wes suggested.

Wherever the quarterback had run off to, the game went on and the home team kept on losing opportunities. Blaine could safely say that this wasn't what he'd been expecting when he'd agreed to come to this championship game. Hopefully the rest of the game would be better.

"Do you want to watch the halftime show?" he asked his friends, who nodded eagerly. "Let me guess," Blaine continued, "because of the cheerleaders?"

They didn't even hesitate to confirm this.

After a minute, David asked Wes, "What's wrong? Is something up?"

Wes shook his head at first, then shrugged. "We're here at McKinley High, right?" he asked. "I'm… sure that I heard from that school before, but where?"

Now that he mentioned it, it did sound familiar to Blaine. However, he had no idea why that was the case, and neither, it appeared, did David.

In the meantime, people were gathering on the field – people in football uniforms, girls in dresses, and a marching band. This school was obviously going to try to make up for the bad first half by giving the audience an elaborate show.

"No cheerleaders?" David asked, his disappointment more than evident.

"Where did all those football players come from?" Blaine muttered, trying to block out his friends' lament over the lack of cheerleaders on the field. "There were only a few of them just now, and now there are loads – "

He was cut off when a girl started singing and the band started playing. The smoke on the field gave the whole thing an eery feel, especially when Blaine also realised that all the girls and the football players were actually looking quite like zombies.

"A mash-up of _Thriller_ and _Heads will roll_," Wes muttered. "That's genius. We should look into that – "

"Somehow, I doubt something like this could be done a cappella," David objected. "Besides, how would we pull this off while wearing our Dalton uniforms? It would just seem weird."

Blaine had to agree with David. The mash-up looked and sounded amazing; the singing was great and the choreography was awesome too. The crowd loved it. But the Warblers shouldn't do something like this. They'd better just stick to recent Top 40 hits.

When they were done, Blaine didn't hesitate to join the applause. He didn't know how they'd done it, getting all those football players to sing and dance along, but this must be one of the best performance Blaine had ever witnessed. It was better than any cheerleading show could've been.

A little later, the football players from McKinley returned to the field. They were all big, burly guys this time, though – the same people who'd just performed that mash-up.

"Are they still wearing their zombie make-up?" Wes asked, shocked.

"Why would they do that?" Blaine wondered.

David shrugged uneasily. "They probably didn't have enough time to get it off after the show."

"Then why does it sound like they're making zombie noises?" Blaine asked.

His friends' silence told him enough.

In the meantime, the girls who'd participated in the show were standing next to the field, cheering and waving pompoms around. They were still wearing their scary dresses and zombie make-up as well. It was the creepiest cheerleading squad Blaine had ever laid eyes on.

Next to the girls were the boy in the wheelchair and the fragile looking boy who'd been on the field during the first half as well. The two of them were still in their football uniforms, and also still wearing the zombie make-up.

With all the burly guys on the home team and the fact that both teams now had the same amount of players, this game could get interesting. Both teams were pretty evenly matched, and McKinley must be out for blood now. Their opponents probably wouldn't let them win so easily, though. At least, that's what Blaine hoped.

By the end of the second half, the home team had managed to make up for their (more than) bad first half. They hadn't completely caught up with the other team, but at least their loss wouldn't be as dramatic as Blaine had expected around half time.

Oh well. There were only ten seconds left. There was no way they could turn their loss into a win, and Blaine was glad for that. If McKinley's team would win, that would mean a very grouchy David for the rest of the night… maybe even the rest of the week.

After a short time-out, the home team started chanting something all of a sudden. Blaine was too far away to make out what exactly they were saying, but it seemed to unsettle the visitors greatly. Then, the cheerleaders on the sidelines started chanting along, just like the football coach –

"They're chanting 'brains' over and over again," David muttered, and now, Blaine could hear it clearly too. That chant, combined with the fact that the team still looked like zombies, had to affect their opponents in some way. It wasn't long before the biggest part of the audience – everyone who'd come to cheer on the home team, which seemed to be the entire town – was shouting the same thing. Wes looked around, looking a little scared.

Before Blaine knew what was happened, the whistle sounded. The quarterback of David's cousin's team seemed very out of focus due to the chants, and for that reason, the home team could have another go at scoring that goal – and they scored. And won.

The stadium erupted in cheers, but the three Warblers didn't have the heart to cheer along. They had, after all, rooted for the other team. Luckily, they weren't the only people in their part of the stands who were disappointed by the outcome of the game. Overall, the visiting team had been better, Blaine thought. And in the end, they had only lost because the home team had started chanting – everyone would lose focus then, right?

"They lost." David sounded close to tears. "How could they lose? They were much better!"

The three of them sat in silence for a moment while the rest of the stadium emptied quickly. "Come on," Blaine said after a couple of minutes. "Let's go back to school, alright?"

The other two nodded numbly and followed Blaine down. They were almost out of the stadium when they bumped into a boy who came jogging out of the school – it was the thin boy who'd been out on the field during the first half. Blaine raised his eyebrows, and the boy copied him, before narrowing his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" he asked suspiciously, now eyeing David and Wes as if trying to remember them from somewhere.

"We came here to watch the game," Blaine answered with a forced smile, a little caught off guard by the fact that they were speaking to someone from the opposing team. "That was a… surprising result."

The boy nodded, but before he could reply, David stepped forward. "You didn't even do anything!" he said in an accusing voice, and Blaine knew that, had David not just witnessed his cousin losing his biggest game ever, he would never, ever, talk like that. "You just… laid down on the ground."

The boys narrowed his eyes at him even further. "Well, excuse me for not wanting to get trampled on by a horde of rampant football players. The ones at my school already shove me around enough, thank you very much. I don't need any football related injuries to add to the ones I already have. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not exactly _built_ like a football player. And sure, I used to be the kicker at some point, but kickers aren't normally on the field during most of the game."

That was true. Trying to steer away from the match itself, Blaine said, "The halftime show was amazing, though. I mean, who came up with that idea? A mash-up of _Thriller_ and _Heads will roll_? That's _brilliant_! And your zombie costumes and make-up looked freaky as well."

A small smile formed on the boy's lips, before it turned into a slight smirk. The boy pretended to wipe himself off before perfecting his bangs. "And to think," he started, sounding a little too smug for Blaine's liking, "it's not even Regionals yet." For a moment, he turned towards the parking lot and waved at someone. Looking back at the three Warblers, he added, "You'd better bring it at Regionals. But either way, we're going to wipe the floor with you."

With that, he walked away, making his way to the parking lot while Wes gaped after him. All of a sudden, he didn't seem as upset about the loss as he'd just been. "What was he talking about?" he muttered to himself. "What – I don't – "

"Let's just go to Dalton," David said. "I don't want to be here anymore."

Right. For a moment, Blaine had forgotten the slightly humiliating loss they'd just witnessed as well. Regionals? What was that supposed to mean?

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"It means," Wes told him once they were back at Dalton and David had gone to his own room already, while Wes and Blaine were both still in Wes' room in an attempt to clear up the confusion, "that I was right when I said I'd heard of the William McKinley High School before." He pointed at his computer screen and Blaine squinted to see what it said.

"New Directions?" he asked, horrified.

Wes nodded sagely. "New Directions," he confirmed.

* * *

**A/N**: I've always wondered why they didn't use that song as their anthem at Regionals. Must be because they don't really seem to want to do the same song twice. Anyway... what do you think? Did you like the chapter anyway? (I hope you did!) Let me know if you have any questions/comments/prompts (preferably those that take place in an episode), please review! :D


	22. A very Glee Christmas II

**A/N**: So... this chapter is much longer than any of the previous chapter. It's probably due to the fact that there's an epilogue (of sorts) that was supposed to be 500 words but ended up being 2000 words, so 1/3 of the entire thing. So, the first 4000 words are set in AVGC, and the other 2000 in SLS. Bet you can predict what happens there :P And it's (mostly) from Kurt's POV! That doesn't happen too often :P (there is a small part in Blaine's POV, but that should be obvious enough, I hope) The idea for this comes from _njferrell_. I'm hopeless at gift shopping myself, so I hope no one here minds that I sort of... glossed over that part.  
I'm also not sure if Kurt went along with Will to buy that tracksuit for Sue or just provided him with the idea. In this chapter, he _does_ come along, however weird that may be. But hey, it's a fanfic :P Oh, and the dialogue at the beginning is (vaguely?) reminiscent of the Kurt/Will interaction in AVGC.

Hopefully you'll like the chapter, and _please_ leave a review at the bottom!

* * *

The day after the entire group had gone into Lima to look for a Santa (and then actually had to _sit in his lap_ – Kurt didn't think he'd ever done anything more awkward and crazier for Brittany than that. And yes, that included dating her for a week), Kurt was glad that Mr Schuester didn't come up with anymore ideas to gather money for their charity. He didn't think he'd be able to handle that. So when their director asked him to stay back for a moment after rehearsal, Kurt did get a tad suspicious.

He really didn't want to get another cat thrown at him at a nursing home in the middle of a song.

"What is it, Mr Schue?" he asked cautiously. "Do you need help finding yourself a look that doesn't involve so many vests?"

"Actually, Kurt," Mr Schuester started, "I need some holiday help. I don't know if you know this, but I am really bad at Christmas shopping."

No, Kurt hadn't known this. But, to be honest, he wasn't exactly surprised. As his teacher told him about how he had to buy coach Sylvester a gift this year, Kurt's mind was already working overtime. Thus, before Mr Schuester was done talking, Kurt smiled. "I have the perfect idea."

"Great!" Mr Schue exclaimed. "So can you… tell me what it is, or…?"

"I could," he replied. "But I'm honestly not sure if you'd buy the right thing. I'll look into it when I get home and I'll let you know tomorrow. Or do you have to have it by then?"

"No, no," Mr Schuester assured him. "Tomorrow's fine with me. Thanks, Kurt."

"It's really no problem," he responded. After all, he was Kurt Hummel, and this had to do with shopping. It was no problem at all.

o-o-o-o-o

The next day, Kurt had almost prepared a multimedia project to show Mr Schuester exactly what he had in mind for the present for coach Sylvester. Knowing fully well, though, that most people didn't have the patience to sit through one of those, he'd begrudgingly just printed some internet pages.

Since there was no Glee rehearsal that day, Kurt just took the liberty to waltz into Mr Schue's office. Ms Pillsbury was married now, after all, so there was no chance that he'd interrupt some private moment. As his teacher looked up, obviously surprised, Kurt just grabbed the stack of papers from his bag and placed them neatly onto the desk in front of him.

While Mr Schue looked through some of the pictures, Kurt glanced around at the office. It was a right mess. Boy, was he glad that he didn't have to come here more often.

"This looks great, Kurt," Mr Schue told him – not that he needed to, Kurt already knew that. "Can I buy it on the internet?"

"Oh, no, no, no," Kurt said with a finality that seemed to catch his teacher off guard. "It's a Christmas present, Mr Schue. Now I know you don't like coach Sylvester all that much, but Christmas presents are not to be bought on the internet. Buying those gifts yourself is… a huge part of the Christmas spirit." When Mr Schuester kept on giving him a weird look, Kurt continued, "I mean, if it wasn't so close to Christmas already and I'd have faith in your sewing or knitting skills, I'd say, make something yourself, but I think that would only end in great disaster. So, going to the mall and actually seeing the gift before buying it is the next best thing."

"Where in Lima do they sell these things?" Mr Schue asked, and Kurt braced himself before giving the answer.

"They don't. Not in Lima, that is," he hastily added. "I checked the internet, and I found a shop in Columbus that sells all kinds of tracksuits."

"But – Columbus?" Mr Schuester spluttered. "That's a two hour drive, Kurt!"

Said boy shrugged. "But you will have a gift nobody else got for her."

He knew that his teacher didn't really like coach Sylvester and thus, probably couldn't care less about getting an _original_ gift for her, but he'd cared enough to come to Kurt for advice and not just buy something random.

"Can you give me the address, then?" Mr Schuester asked, defeated. "I'll drive by the store some time this weekend."

Kurt shot him another look. "You can't just buy the first tracksuit you come across," he informed his director. "You have to check if the colour isn't awful, if it's the right size, and not just some cheap material, and – " If possible, Mr Schuester looked even more defeated now. Kurt sighed. "I've got some Christmas shopping left to do," he said. "Might as well look for presents in Columbus." He _did_ need some stuff, yes, but he'd actually planned on buying those things in Lima. Oh well – maybe in Columbus, there was more to choose from. Always shopping in Lima _did_ get old after seventeen years.

"You're coming along?" Mr Schue asked, frowning slightly. Kurt had to agree – it _was_ a little odd to walk around a mall with his teacher.

"I'll go by myself," he replied. "I need to get there in time, and that way, you can just buy the tracksuit and head back to Lima again."

"That would be very helpful, Kurt, thank you." Mr Schuester smiled. After making arrangements for the next Saturday, Kurt left the office and, after glancing around to see if there were any jocks around, the school.

His weekend was bound to be… interesting.

o-o-o-o-o

When Kurt arrived in Columbus that Saturday, it was still early. However, since it was almost Christmas, that didn't mean it wasn't packed already. At least Kurt knew what he needed and where he needed to be. He didn't feel like getting lost in a city he didn't know. If he were to finish early, maybe he could have a better look at some of the shops here.

Indeed, he had gathered almost everything he needed by the time he decided to grab a coffee. He was meeting up with Mr Schuester soon, and he didn't think he'd make it to the final two shops and back in time. Sitting down on a (freezing) bench outside the coffee shop, he glanced around. It looked like everyone had opted to do their Christmas shopping today. On top of that, it looked like people from all over Ohio had come _here_ to shop for the holidays.

When he heard something next to him, he glanced sideways, coming face to face with a boy his age. "Hi," the boy greeted him, sounding slightly nervous. "Mind if I sit here?"

Kurt was surprised. Most people _he_ knew wouldn't want to be caught dead sitting next to him. And nobody had ever seemed nervous when talking to him. "No, that's alright," he replied. "You can sit. It's not as if I own this bench."

The boy smiled slightly as he sat down. Kurt realised that he, too, was holding a coffee cup. Unlike Kurt, however, he didn't have any bags with him. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Kurt glancing at the other boy a couple of times, trying to work out what his motive for sitting _here_ could be. The boy shot Kurt's bags a few glances too, as if wondering why there were so many (though by Kurt's standards, he didn't have _that_ many bags) or what was in them or how he'd gathered them all so early in the morning (not that it was still that early).

Truth is, it was a little awkward. So when Kurt's coffee cup was empty, he let out a relieved, but hopefully silent enough, sigh. After gathering his shopping bags, he got up. With a small smile, a nod, and a soft "bye", he walked towards the shop where he'd arranged to meet his Glee coach soon.

Mr Schuester was late, but luckily, not more than a couple of minutes. Apparently, there was a lot more traffic on the road to Columbus now than when Kurt had been driving. He actually looked a bit scared of the store they were about to enter, which Kurt thought was preposterous. Yes, it may be full of tracksuits, but it wasn't going to swallow them whole.

In this environment, Kurt could easily observe his teacher's shopping habits, and he concluded that the older man had been right when he'd said that he was no good at Christmas gift shopping. Even when they were already in a store that had exactly what he needed, Mr Schuester still managed to point out the ugliest, least fashionable of them all (not that tracksuits were fashionable in the first place, but still – not that Kurt had expected anything better from the man who practically wore the same clothes every day). Or he'd inspect a tracksuit that was obviously way too small, or far too wide for coach Sylvester, or, if Kurt wasn't paying attention, the Glee club director tried to get away with wrong material choices and other inexcusable things.

Kurt was slowly getting a headache. Even Rachel Berry (of all people) wasn't as bad. It was a good thing that he hadn't let Mr Schuester come here by himself. He quickly steered his teacher away from all the awful tracksuits, praying to a God he didn't believe in that there was at least one decent tracksuit in this shop.

And there it was. Mostly black, with some gold-coloured stripes, with a fur-lined hood – just like he'd planned. Of course, neither Kurt nor Mr Schuester were entirely sure which size coach Sylvester was (that was such an awkward thought that Kurt banished it from his head as soon as it came up), but in the end, they managed to pick one that would probably fit. The materials were good and nothing else seemed wrong with it.

Mr Schuester looked relieved that they'd managed to find a tracksuit. However, Kurt knew that, even if they hadn't been able to find anything here, Mr Schue would've come back here after Kurt had left. Who knew what he would've bought in that case. This was much safer.

After the Glee director had paid for the tracksuit, the two walked out of the store in silence. Kurt didn't really have a clue what he could possibly talk about to his teacher, and it appeared that that feeling was mutual.

Suddenly recognising a street to his left (he had, after all, walked around this place for two hours already), he said, "I think I need to go this way. I've still got some shopping left to do."

Mr Schuester nodded in understanding. "So do I," he confessed. "But I think I'll wait until I'm back in Lima for that."

Kurt shrugged. "Now that I'm here anyway, I might as well stay here." No one even knew him here. No one was yelling slurs against him for a change. It was nice.

"Thanks for the help, Kurt," Mr Schuester told him. "I don't know what I would've done without your expertise."

Kurt chuckled. "I don't think I want to know."

All of a sudden, Mr Schuester was frowning. "Kurt, I think we're being followed."

"Followed?" Kurt echoed. "What – "

"Someone's following us," his teacher repeated. "Maybe it would be safer – "

So this was the moment when one of his teachers took notice of someone potentially stalking Kurt? In a shopping environment, where everyone was running around like mad people? _Of course_.

"I'm sure I'll be fine," he shrugged off the teacher's concern. "I survive McKinley every single day while getting harassed – I'm sure I can handle this. There are more people around here than at school, too, so perhaps nothing will happen. Or, if it does, someone will actually step in for a change." With that, he walked off, shouting briskly over his shoulder, "Enjoy your weekend, Mr Schue."

As he continued shopping for Christmas necessities, Kurt couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. Mr Schuester must've been right – Kurt constantly felt a pair of eyes on him, watching him as he walked, and the person attached to those eyes was probably following him indeed.

Making sure to never actually look around, Kurt stubbornly continued shopping. If this was how it was going to be, then fine. He'd just drive back to Lima after he was done and maybe come back here another time.

Just as he was sifting through his bags to check if he'd bought everything he needed, someone tapped his shoulder. He'd like to say he didn't jump when that happened, but that would be a lie. He quickly spun around to see the shoulder tapper and came face to face with… the boy he'd seen earlier. The boy who'd asked if he could sit on the same bench as Kurt.

Well. That was unexpected.

Again, the boy looked slightly flustered. When Kurt raised an eyebrow at him in question, he said, "Hi," smiling nervously. "Sorry – did I startle you?" Now he actually looked concerned.

Kurt quickly shrugged it off. "It's fine." It wasn't like he wasn't used to people coming up behind him anyway. At this, the boy smiled a bit, but Kurt was still curious. "What did you need? Did I lose anything?"

"Oh, no," the boy replied. "Not that I know of, anyway. No, I was wondering…" He trailed off, shuffling his feet uneasily. Then, he stared at Kurt's bags again before continuing. "You're obviously good at Christmas shopping. Would you… mind giving me a few pointers?"

Of all the things the boy could've possibly wanted, Kurt hadn't been expecting this one. "You want me to help you Christmas shopping?" he asked incredulously. "You – I don't even know you!"

The boy had the decency to look abashed at this. After a moment, he smiled apologetically at Kurt. "I guess I'm just very desperate," he admitted. "Please? I could buy you coffee afterwards." He started sounding hopeful again. In an afterthought, he added, "Or I suppose I could just pay you, if you'd prefer that. How much – "

Kurt stared at him for a moment, wide-eyed. This boy was obviously crazy. "You want to _pay_ me to help you?" he asked, wondering where on earth this boy came from. When the boy looked at him confusedly, obviously wondering what was wrong with that, Kurt shook his head resolutely. He loved shopping, and while he wouldn't being someone's (maybe Lady Gaga's?) personal shopper, it seemed ridiculous that a random boy his age would want to pay him to help him find Christmas gifts or whatever he needed. "No," he said firmly. "No way." When the boy's face fell, he quickly continued, "I guess I could give you some pointers, but you really don't have to pay me for that…"

The boy nodded hesitantly. "Alright," he replied. "If you're sure."

Kurt looked the boy up and down before asking, "What exactly do you need? Have you already bought something?"

The boy shook his head, seeming ashamed of himself. "No, I haven't. I _really_ have no idea what to buy." With a sigh, he added, "And I still need to buy _everything_."

"Everything?" Kurt asked carefully, fearing the worst.

The boy nodded. "Yeah. All my presents – for my parents, some friends…"

Well, that wasn't so bad. "No siblings?" Kurt inquired, just to be sure. "No… significant other?" He had to admit, even though this boy was making an odd first (or second?) impression on him, he was fairly cute. Surely –

"No, I don't have any of those," the boy responded with a smile, and Kurt decided to not even think about why that felt like such a relief to him.

He briefly closed his eyes – how on earth was he going to do this? "Alright," he said after a brief pause. "Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to put these bags in my car first, and then we'll have that coffee you offered. You can tell me some things about your friends and family while we drink the coffee, so I'll at least know for what kinds of people you're shopping."

The boy nodded enthusiastically. "Thank you, so much! I'm Blaine, by the way." He held out a hand for Kurt to shake, which the other boy took.

"I'm Kurt," he said cautiously. "And – did you follow me around all this time?"

Blaine's eyes widened. "Follow you? I – yeah, alright. I did," he admitted. "But not in a creepy way!" he added hastily. "I was just curious."

"How's that supposed to be not creepy?" Kurt retorted. He glanced around for a moment, figuring out the best way to return to his car. "Let's go. I want to get back home before… well, never mind." There was no way he'd get home before the dark now anyway.

As they walked towards the parking lot where Kurt had found a parking spot for his car this morning, Blaine was oddly quiet.

"You can start telling me about the gift receivers, you know," Kurt informed him. "The more you tell me, the better the present ideas will be."

Blaine seemed to snap out of an intricate thought process. "Yeah, of course," he mumbled, frowning at his own words. "Uh – I was thinking of maybe getting all my friends the same kind of – "

"Seriously?" Kurt asked. "That's your brilliant plan?"

Blaine scoffed, obviously offended. "It's what we always do," he replied. "Everyone buys the exact same thing for everyone."

Now that Kurt thought about it, almost half his friends did pretty much the same thing – sure, they didn't buy the same thing for everyone, but all the presents were pretty similar.

"Fine," he gave in. "But – "

He was interrupted by twin shouts of, "Blaine!"

Kurt hurriedly stepped back when two boys – a blonde and a brunet – in identical clothes came out of nowhere and jumped Blaine with an enthusiasm that Kurt had never seen before on people his age.

"What are you doing here?" the blond boy asked happily once they'd let go of the shorter boy.

Blaine scowled slightly. "Shopping for Christmas gifts, of course," he replied, sounding almost too calm for it to be real.

Only now did the two new boys notice Kurt. "And you appointed him as your bag carrier?" the brown-haired boy asked, throwing Blaine a disappointed look. "Honestly, Blaine, I'd expected better from you."

"I haven't bought anything yet," Blaine replied, and Kurt nodded.

"This is my stuff," he clarified.

Now, both boys sent Blaine disappointed looks. "And you haven't offered to carry his bags for him yet, Blaine?" the blonde asked.

"We're only bringing them to my car," Kurt explained, not fully understanding why these boys were giving Blaine so much trouble over this.

"And after that, Kurt's helping me buy Christmas presents," Blaine added, sending Kurt a small smile.

"Really, Blaine?" the blond boy asked him incredulously. "You'd think that you, as a gay guy, would be able to go Christmas shopping by yourself. But hey – you hadn't even told us you had a boyfriend! Congratulations!"

Blaine looked mortified, and Kurt guessed that he mustn't look much different. This was too much to process at once –

"You're gay?" he asked Blaine disbelievingly.

Blaine's eyes widened, as did the other two boys'. "Wait, so he's _not_ your boyfriend?" the brown-haired boy asked. Both he and his blond friend looked oddly disappointed about this.

"No, I'm not," Kurt informed them. "I didn't even know – he – "

Obviously, Blaine was thinking clearly again. "I doubt _you_ go around telling people that," he reminded Kurt. "In fact, you didn't tell me either."

Blaine's friends seemed thoroughly confused now. "Wait – how long have you two even known each other?" the blonde asked.

Blaine checked his watch. "About… twenty minutes?" he replied warily.

"Blaine," the blond boy started, "did you _honestly_ ask a complete stranger to help you shop for Christmas presents?"

"And you agreed to help him?" the brunet asked, turning to Kurt.

Then, the two boys turned towards each other and grinned wickedly. "We'll just leave you to it," the blond boy said with a smirk.

"Have fun!" his brown-haired friend shouted over his shoulder as they swiftly walked off.

After a minute of silence, Blaine said, "Sorry about my friends."

"That's alright," Kurt said feebly, not knowing why he was feeling so self-conscious all of a sudden. Perhaps it was because the other boy turned out to be gay now? He had to admit, it did make a little more sense now. Straight boys would never approach Kurt for any other reason than to shout abuse at him, or to physically harm him. Taking a deep breath, he asked, "Do you have to buy those two gifts as well?"

"Sadly, yes," Blaine answered. "Um. Anyway – do you need help with those bags?"

Kurt smirked inwardly. "No, that's fine. We're almost there anyway." He knew he was right, but still, he was glad to see the parking lot he'd left his car in this morning when they walked around a corner. As he carefully put the bags in the trunk, he remembered something – Blaine's friends' clothes had looked very familiar to him.

"Do your friends attend Dalton Academy?" he asked Blaine, turning towards him and locking his car.

Blaine cocked his head to the side somewhat. "Yes, they do," he replied. "As do I. Why? How did you guess?"

"The uniforms," Kurt admitted. "They were just slightly visible." He had to admit, though, that he was glad Blaine was _not _in uniform. "We – my Glee club competed against the Warblers at Sectionals."

As he said this, Blaine suddenly stood still. He looked at Kurt with wide eyes. "Seriously?" he asked. "You're in New Directions?"

Ah, Blaine was obviously aware of the competition. "Well, I'm too young to be in the Hipsters, so that's a definite 'yes'," he quipped.

When Blaine continued staring at him, Kurt took a better look at the other boy too. Now that he thought about it, the boy in front of him looked familiar as well.

"You're their lead singer," he stated, rather than asked, in the end. Yes, he definitely remembered the short boy in front of the other Warblers now. He'd been charming then, and he was still charming now.

"You caught me," Blaine said with a cheery smile. "Come on now. How about that coffee?"

o-o-o-o-o

Over coffee, Blaine told Kurt all about his parents. Still, Kurt felt like he was only telling him the more superficial things – what tv shows they liked, what their hobbies were, what they did for a living. He didn't tell Kurt about what they were like. Kurt reckoned that that was to be expected, seeing as they'd known one another for less than an hour. There just seemed to be something… like maybe a different reason why Blaine wouldn't tell him those things. Maybe it wasn't just the short time they'd known each other for.

As it turned out, Blaine also needed presents for his entire Glee club, much like Kurt had. The difference, of course, was that in Blaine's case, the other Glee club members were all private school boys who were much more structured than anyone at McKinley.

While they wandered through Columbus, looking for the right presents, there was definitely some small talk too and – dare he think it? – perhaps even some flirting. Some time later – Kurt didn't think it had been too long, but Blaine appeared to be thinking otherwise – they had gathered everything Blaine could possibly need.

Even though Kurt proposed to go back home now, Blaine managed to convince him to come along for yet another cup of coffee. Blaine was quite the caffeine addict, Kurt thought.

Like they'd done while shopping, they chatted about all kinds of things now and, as it turned out, they had quite a few things in common. That prompted Kurt to just take the leap and ask for Blaine's number afterwards. Yes, they were officially still each other's competition, but he wasn't going to refuse a friendship with another gay guy his age when it was handed to him like this.

Plus, if Blaine thought otherwise and didn't want to hang out after today, there was no harm done – apart from bruising Kurt's ego a little, of course. They'd only see each other at Regionals after this anyway.

To his relief, though, Blaine was more than happy to hand over his phone to allow Kurt to type out his number. After that, Blaine recited his own number to Kurt.

When they finally left the coffee shop, it was almost dinner time, and Kurt hoped that his father wouldn't mind too much. He knew how Kurt could get when given the opportunity to shop, but you never knew.

o-o-o-o-o

Blaine had never been happier. Or, should he say, more in love. Because he was sure that that was what this feeling was. He'd only gone on a handful of coffee dates with Kurt – okay, who was he kidding? They'd done that at least once a week since they'd met in December (even before Christmas). And okay, he admitted that they'd also visited the community theatre a couple of times. They texted constantly and called each other almost daily.

Yes. Blaine was certain that he was in love, much to the satisfaction of Nick and Jeff, who hadn't stopped bothering him about Kurt since they'd seen them together.

However, he and Kurt were not together. Not like that. And Blaine really wanted that to happen. Good thing it was almost Valentine's Day and the Warblers went along with anything he proposed.

o-o-o-o-o

Valentine's Day had never been Kurt's favourite holiday. This year was probably worse than other years, seeing as pretty much all his friends had someone to spend this special day with. He didn't like to admit it, but he did want someone to spend this day with as well. He figured he could, perhaps, ask Blaine, but they were just friends. And also each other's competition.

During Glee rehearsal after school nobody was paying attention. It was a complete chaos. It might have to do with the fact that everyone else had already left – all the other school clubs and teams (perhaps with the exception of cheerleading practice) had been cancelled as a result of almost every student making plans for after school regardless of whatever activity they were supposed to go to.

All of a sudden, there was a commotion outside in the hallway. It sounded like a group of students were entering the school again – which was odd. The doors to the choir room were never closed, and now was not an exception, so they could hear the students walking down the hallways. The Glee kids shared some confused glances, not really knowing what to think or do.

When a dark-haired boy nobody knew stuck his head into the room, everyone stared back confusedly. He regarded them all silently, then glanced at the piano and the other instruments. Grinning widely, he stepped into full view and shouted down the hallway, "I found them! They're here!"

Kurt, like many of his friends, only had eyes for what the boy was wearing. A Dalton Academy uniform.

Oh God. What if Blaine was here too?

Kurt quickly shook his head. There was simply no way Blaine was _not _somehow involved in this. When the Dalton boy disappeared again, everyone turned to Kurt, who suddenly regretted telling them (under pressure, mind you) about the whole Blaine situation. He checked his phone, hoping that there was some kind of message from Blaine that could help him figure out what was about to go down here.

Of course, there was no such message.

Footsteps – a whole lot of them – approached the choir room. "Should we go outside?" Tina asked doubtfully.

Before anyone could react, voices were heard. There was no mistaking who they were or what they were doing, and Rachel sat a little straighter in her chair, smiling happily.

After all, it wasn't every day that your competition came to your school to perform. They hadn't even needed to break into Dalton for this – in fact, it was exactly the other way around.

Kurt just eyed the door suspiciously. Something weird was going on here. A moment later, Blaine appeared, while his teammates kept backing him up. Kurt didn't have much time to appreciate the harmonies, however, as Blaine was looking right at him as he sang.

_Oh_.

He knew this song. Who had told Blaine that this was a good song to sing to someone? On _Valentine's Day_?

Kurt glanced sideways, but he was trapped in between Mercedes and Quinn, who both looked a little constipated, if Kurt was honest. It was very likely that they knew the song as well and were anticipating what was to come. Kurt could hardly wait.

More Warblers filtered into the choir room, moving around a little as Blaine had jumped onto one of the empty chairs. Kurt didn't really know what to do. On one hand, this would soon become one of the most embarrassing situations he'd ever been in, so he wanted to look anywhere but Blaine; on the other hand, this _was_ the first time someone was singing to him… almost serenading him, he reckoned, so he was supposed to keep looking at Blaine, right?

By now, Blaine had jumped off of the chair again, only to sit down on top of the piano instead. Some other Warblers joined him as they harmonised. Kurt was still hoping that _maybe_, they would only sing the first verses and the chorus. Not the stuff that came after that. This was bad enough already.

Before he knew what was happening, most of his teammates got up from their seats and started dancing along, harmonising the best they could (compared to the Warblers… well, they had a long way to go) – and Kurt was the only one still sitting. Not for long, though – Brittany happily pulled him up to dance along. Soon, he was face to face with Blaine, who was grinning like a fool as he continued singing.

_Oh, great_. Now Blaine was singing about sex toys. Very awkward. Kurt stepped back a little, trying not to get squished by the two Glee clubs that were moving around the choir room now. Blaine, like the puppy he'd turned out to be after getting to know Kurt a little better, seemed to light up and followed him around (talk about déjà vu), obviously seeing this as a fun game.

Still, there appeared to be some sort of choreography that went with this… song, as the Warblers started playfully shooing the New Directions members back into their seats. Only now, Kurt was sitting in the front row.

When the song was (finally!) done, Blaine was standing right in front of Kurt, a satisfied grin on his face. Kurt had to admit that his happiness was contagious; even though the song had been completely inappropriate, he felt quite giddy.

"Get some, Hummel!" Puck shouted appreciatively, while Santana was fanning herself. Kurt should've known that those two would like the song choice. Finn, however, looked a bit confused, but Kurt was well aware that, once the confusion dissipated, Finn would not hesitate to tell Blaine off for the song choice (much like Kurt was planning on doing), and probably even tell Kurt's father about it – who, in turn, would be very inclined to dislike Blaine before they'd even met.

"So?" Blaine asked, still smiling down at Kurt hopefully. "What did you think?"

Kurt smiled back, though much less brightly than Blaine. "Let's take this outside, alright?"

With that, he got up and almost marched out of the room, Blaine following hastily. "Didn't you like it?" he asked after they'd turned a corner, his face falling.

Kurt sighed and turned towards him. "Blaine – you sang me a song about… I'm not even going to repeat it here. But now all my friends think we're having sex all the time, and right now as well, come to think of it. I'm not sure what you wanted to do here, but… that song was entirely inappropriate."

Blaine looked down at the floor. "So you didn't like it?" he repeated his question, now a little quieter.

"I – " Kurt started. "No, Blaine – I like the idea behind it. I think," he continued after a moment. "I just… didn't like the… lyrics too much."

Now it was Blaine's turn to sigh. "Yeah, the other guys _did_ send me some weird looks when I told them what song I was planning on singing," he admitted. Then, his face lit up. "Come on!" he told Kurt, dragging him along. "I bought you something!"

"You bought me something?" Kurt asked sceptically. This was Blaine they were talking about, after all – the boy who'd gotten desperate enough to ask a complete stranger for help with finding good Christmas presents.

Blaine nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I hope you'll like it. I didn't really know what to get you, because we've never talked about that sort of things." Growing a little more serious, he added, "If you don't like it, that's fine. I just… hope you'll appreciate the gesture."

Kurt smiled a little. "Blaine – I _do_ appreciate the song, I told you that. Just not the lyrics."

Blaine had, by now, dragged him towards the parking lot. "I didn't have any time to wrap it, though," he said. "So just… consider the car one big wrapper."

Laughing lightly at that, Kurt waited for Blaine to unlock the car. When he opened the trunk, Kurt had no idea what to think. He recognised it from the Lima Bean, where they'd been selling stuff like this for today.

He also remembered telling Blaine explicitly that he thought it was completely tacky. Well then. He really didn't want to know what Blaine bought his family and friends for Christmas in previous years.

He quickly plastered a smile onto his face. "Thank you!" he exclaimed, not quite knowing what to do. "It's very… cute." He hoped that would be enough for Blaine, remembering that he _had_ liked this… thing. According to him, it symbolised puppy love.

Wait – love?

Blaine was beaming at him. He took the decoration out of the trunk and handed it to Kurt. "I was hoping that you would… do me the honour of going out with me tonight?" he asked, sounding slightly nervous now. "As in, on a date?"

A first date on Valentine's Day? That was tremendously cliché in Kurt's books, but with Blaine, he couldn't find it in himself to care much. "But I didn't even get you anything," he protested.

"Just your company would be enough for me," Blaine replied, smiling happily.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "That's so cheesy."

"You love it," Blaine retorted. "Just admit it."

"Fine." Kurt faked an exasperated sigh. "I'll let you take me out tonight. Where are we going?"

Something glinted in Blaine's eye. "That's a surprise."

Before Kurt could press the matter, he was jumped by two boys in blazer. He recognised them as the two who'd 'attacked' Blaine almost two months before in Columbus.

"Can we call you Blaine's boyfriend now?" the brown-haired one asked excitedly.

Kurt glanced from him to Blaine, who was _blushing_. It was cute, Kurt thought.

"I don't know," he replied. "Maybe if tonight goes well and he asks – though if he doesn't, perhaps I may have to do that."

That answer seemed good enough for the two boys.

"Oh, by the way," the blonde told him, "your friends want you back in the choir room. We need to interrogate Blaine anyway. He'll pick you up tonight!"

Before Kurt could tell them that Blaine didn't even know where he lived (as far as he was aware), and that it was terribly crazy to drive back to Westerville now, and come back to Lima tonight, they'd all but pushed him into the car and seated themselves as well. All the other Warblers were getting ready to leave as well, so Kurt quickly moved away from Blaine's car. He'd have to put this… puppy love thing in his car before he went back inside or he'd never live it down.

As he watched Blaine and his friends pull out of the parking lot, he hoped with all his might that Blaine was better at picking out restaurants than at picking out gifts.

* * *

**A/N**: Yeah, Kurt became the 'new' Jeremiah. In a way :\ Because yeah, the song Blaine sings is, still, of course, _When I get you alone_. Soooo... what did you think? :) Please leave a review to tell me your thoughts on this (or any questions/prompts. Those are welcome too, of course). Reviews=motivation to write=(possibly) faster updates ;)


	23. Showmance

**A/N**: This was supposed to get posted yesterday... obviously, that didn't happen. As I've said before, in my headcanon, Blaine transferred to Dalton when he started high school. That's not the case here, just so you know - he started there after freshman year. And in the flashback you'll find that I'm most definitely lacking originality in the coming-up-with-new-names department, as the council members are the same guys as in some earlier chapters. Anyway, the idea for this comes from _specsO-O_ and was also requested by _Lolasatsuma_. I hope you'll like this chapter :) And, as always, please leave a review when you reach the bottom of the page :)

* * *

If there was one thing Blaine Anderson regretted at this moment, it was speaking up at _that_ particular moment during _that_ particular Warblers meeting – his first meeting ever, actually. If he'd just nodded and went along with it, he wouldn't be here right now, almost too scared to get out of his car and enter the school in front of him – a large, bland building that screamed 'public school' and probably contained all the demons Blaine had thought he'd left behind when he'd left his old school months ago.

Not that the other Warblers knew about that, mind you. He was sure that, had they known about the circumstances that had led to his transfer to Dalton, they would never have sent him here. But he'd been too ashamed to tell them about what had caused him to flee to Dalton. He had let his bullies chase him away, he had never done anything to stand up to them. And now he'd switched schools, he'd let them win.

He'd arrived at Dalton, scared out of his wits. He hadn't known what to expect, and it most certainly wasn't being… assaulted, in a way (but in a good way) by a couple of his classmates, asking him if he wanted to join this club or that group or maybe the band or a sports team or the show choir?

Truth be told, he'd been completely overwhelmed by the sudden attention, but after he'd learnt that it was _good_ attention for a change, he'd relaxed. In the end, he'd only joined the show choir, but he was determined to also check out some of the other school clubs a little later this year, once he'd gotten used to the workload at Dalton and the fact that everyone was nice and nobody bullied him.

After one (rather short, he might add – he was interrupted before he could start the chorus and told he was definitely in) audition, he was now a member of the Warblers, one of the most respected groups at Dalton. When he'd heard this, he'd been startled.

o-o-o-o-o

"_Wait," he__ said, "that was all? You don't have any strange initiation rituals? I don't have to do anything life threatening?"_

_At first, the council members were confused, but Blaine realised that they must be used to going to private schools like this one their entire lives. They had never had to worry about bullies or people who wanted to purposefully hurt them – or at least, so it seemed to Blaine. _

"_No, of course not," Colin told him, sounding puzzled. "Unless you want to do something like that…"_

_Blaine was about to tell them that no, he was perfectly fine with not doing anything potentially dangerous, when Tom said, "I read in the Ohio Show Choir chat rooms yesterday that there's a new Glee club. It hasn't been around for a long time, but you'll never know – perhaps they have some very talented members. We could always use some information on what they're like – if they're good enough, they might qualify for the competition and we might face them at Sectionals."_

"_So you want Blaine here to go spy on them?" Colin asked. When Tom shrugged and nodded, Colin turned to Blaine. "Do you have a license?" _

_Not really, actually – he had a permit, but… oh, what the hell. "Yeah, I do," he replied meekly. _

"_Good!" Tom exclaimed. "I'll see if I can find anything about semi-public performances that you could attend, and I'll let you know when to go."_

o-o-o-o-o

If he'd known he'd be sent to a public school two hours away from Dalton, he would never have brought it up in the first place.

Slowly, he got out of the car – Tom's car – and stared at the building in front of him. He shivered slightly. It was as if everything he'd gone through at his old school – everything he'd managed to escape, and hide, and forget about – came back to him all of a sudden.

But he needed to go inside. Tom had done his research, and if his sources were correct, this school's Glee club was going to perform at some sort of assembly in the gym after all the classes ended. That meant that Blaine had to start moving already – the bell rang loudly at that very moment, even clearly audible in the parking lot.

Since the school year had started only a few weeks ago, Blaine figured he could probably pass for a new, unknown student, instead of a spy. He had brought some casual clothes when he'd come to Dalton, but still – before coming here, he'd feared that he wouldn't fit in. However, seeing the student body now, he realised that that was, most likely, the least of his problems.

Big jocks stampeded through the hallways, shoving aside everyone who stood in their way; girls in cheerleading uniforms didn't even have to shove people away as the rest of the student body stepped back for them anyway; in every corner, there seemed to be a separate clique. But in the end, they were all headed towards the gym. Blaine was glad he'd gone in when he had; otherwise, he had to find the way there on his own.

Arriving in the gym, Blaine opted to sit somewhere at the back, where it would be least likely for him to get shoved around. Luckily, there was enough room, even though the gym _was_ quite packed. Some people sent him odd looks, most likely because they didn't recognise him, but he ignored those stares. When the principal came in, most people quieted; still, the small Indian man saw it fit to tell them to be silent.

After making an announcement about the toilets (Blaine didn't want to know the story behind that), the principal introduced a teacher – probably the Glee club director. Only one person in the gym started clapping, which Blaine thought was slightly odd. Then again, if the club had only been in existence for a few weeks tops, it was only natural that nobody quite knew what to expect yet.

It quickly became clear that the club was, in fact, looking for new recruits – which became all the more obvious when only six students appeared on stage. Even Blaine, who'd only been a member of the Warblers for a very short time, knew that that was not enough at all.

But this song…

Oh, Blaine, being a teenage boy, could see why they'd chosen to do it. Sex sold at high schools. He just hadn't seen it coming, and, seeing the looks on the faces of the people around him, he suspected that they hadn't either. The dance moves they were performing along with the song weren't exactly appropriate for a high school either – or maybe that was just Blaine.

He couldn't deny, however, that the shorter boy standing on stage knew exactly how to move his hips – and he took every opportunity to show off that particular skill. And that – that ass.

Blaine cocked his head to the side to have a better look before catching himself. _What was he doing?_ This may not be his old school, but it was still a public school in Ohio – checking out a boy in front of the whole school could have some nasty consequences, even though he didn't even go here.

Then again, Blaine figured that he was sitting far enough from the stage to keep eyeing the boy. No one would notice that his eyes didn't exactly linger on the three girls on stage. _Still_… He wiped his mouth. No reason for him to start drooling or anything like that.

And then the boy on stage slapped the taller guy's ass. That was way hotter than Blaine would've expected it to be. The tall guy obviously hadn't seen that coming, as he looked completely out of it for a moment. Well, Blaine certainly couldn't blame him. If it had been him up there, slapped on the ass by a boy as cute as that, he would have been speechless as well.

Somehow, this boy made even crawling across the stage look hot. Blaine wouldn't have minded being on stage with this group right now, if that meant having the other boy crawl over towards him. Then maybe he could –

_Oh_. This was getting way out of hand. Those were bad, bad thoughts. And not just because of the type of people sitting around him. He didn't _know_ these students, least of all that boy on stage. He should _not_ be thinking about him like _that_.

Of course, now that he'd thought that, there was no way of actually getting his mind off of it. He wondered for how long this pure _torture_ would continue, but all of a sudden, the song, and the performance, were over. He could breathe again.

For only a moment, that was. Now that the students on stage were standing still, he had a much better view on the boy at the right. And he definitely liked what he saw.

In a completely non-creepy way, of course.

At first, there was silence. Then, the student body erupted in applause. Blaine, too, jumped out of his seat to clap along. He had enjoyed this performance a lot; perhaps more than he should. And he didn't even remember most of it due to the excellent distraction the boy on stage had formed.

Oh. Shit.

He'd come here to spy, but instead of watching and taking in the entire performance, he'd just watched one particular boy. He hoped the council would be lenient and let it slide. He just knew that, in case this Glee club got enough members to compete, he would not be sent here to spy again. Which was quite a pity.

That made him wonder – maybe this group had already expected that spies from other clubs would be present? Perhaps the boy he'd been watching was merely a distraction.

Soon, the other students started filing out of the gym, while the man who'd announced the Glee club walked over to the stage and started a heated discussion with the short brunette who stood centre-stage. Sneaking one final glance at the shorter boy (who was now talking to the other two girls in the group), Blaine followed the McKinley students out of the gym. Most of them were leaving, heading towards the parking lot. Although he wouldn't mind running into the boy personally, Blaine figured this would be a good time to just leave before anyone caught him.

Only when he was already on the road, Blaine realised that he _really_ needed to use the restroom. Damn it. Luckily, he hadn't left Lima yet, and judging from the signs next to the road, there must be a coffee shop or something similar nearby.

And now that he was there anyway, he figured he might as well grab himself a cup of coffee. When he sat down, he finally relaxed. It was only a matter of time, however, before flashes of the boy he'd seen on stage popped into his head.

Not just in his head, though.

Blaine blinked furiously and almost spat out his coffee when he saw who'd just entered the coffee shop. It was him – which meant that all Blaine could do was stare.

The boy had changed out of the outfit he'd worn on stage, and Blaine was certain that he'd seen the clothes he was now wearing in one of the fashion magazines he'd been reading lately. They looked absolutely fantastic on him. Especially those skin-tight jeans – oh God, there he went again. Bad thoughts. _Bad thoughts_.

All of a sudden, the boy seemed to feel Blaine's eyes on him, and he frowned back at Blaine, as if not really knowing whether or not to be happy about the situation. Blaine just smiled back in what he hoped was a friendly way – not too off-putting, at the very least.

After a moment, the boy seemed to snap out of his daze and he turned back to the counter – just in time to tell the barista his order. Blaine stared back down at his cup, not daring to hope much. And indeed, the boy sat down at one of the empty table in the shop, careful not to spare Blaine a glance. Blaine sighed. The boy must think he was some weird, creepy stalker or anything.

He quickly downed the rest of his coffee, threw the cup in the trashcan, and made to head outside.

But not before he'd spoken to the boy, even if it were only two words. "Hey," he greeted him as he halted by the boy's table for a moment. "I just – it may sound weird, but you were great today. At the assembly, I mean. It was… hot."

The boy stared at him, wide-eyed. Then he seemed to recover. "Oh, thanks," he said in response, obviously trying to remain cool, but failing. A smile tugged at his lips, and Blaine didn't think he'd ever seen anything more adorable. "Yeah, I suppose the girls were pretty… nice to look at."

Blaine was confused. He'd been fairly sure that this boy was gay. Not straight. Maybe he thought Blaine was straight and had only looked at the girls? He grinned sheepishly. "I didn't mean the girls," he said quietly, trying to make sure nobody else in the coffee shop heard him. "I was talking about you." And whoa. Usually, Blaine was never this straightforward. At _all_.

If the boy had been surprised before, the shock was ten times worse now. "Me?" he asked, flabbergasted.

Blaine smiled apologetically before nodding and hastily making his way out of the shop, not wanting to make an even bigger fool out of himself than he already had. When he was almost at his car, he heard footsteps behind him.

"Hey, wait up!" It was the boy again. "Did you just – you can't just say something like that and walk away!"

"It was safer than sticking around with the chance to get beaten up," Blaine reasoned.

"I'm not going to beat you up," the boy promised him, then laughed. "Do I look so threatening to you?"

Blaine shook his head. "Some of the other customers did."

The boy looked thoughtful for a minute. "You're right. But – did you really… mean all that?" He was slowly reddening completely, which made him even more adorable to Blaine. When Blaine just nodded, the boy stared at the ground for a moment. "Okay. Uh – hey, you know, if you liked our performance, you should check out the Glee club some time. Maybe you'll like it."

"Yeah, about that…," Blaine started nervously. "I don't… go to your school. I just… happened to be there."

The boy scrutinised him closely. "You're not from Carmel, are you?"

Chuckling a little, Blaine shook his head. "No, I'm not. But there _are_ other Glee clubs in Ohio than just you and Vocal Adrenaline."

The boy pulled a face. There was a short silence that was only broken when the boy asked, hesitance very obvious in his voice, "Do you… think that maybe, we could hang out some time? I mean – you don't have to if you don't want to, but… you're gay, right? I've never met anyone who's… called me _that_ before so you must be. Right?"

"Yeah, I am," Blaine replied, trying to sound casual but close to freaking out inside.

The boy smiled wryly. "I've never met anybody who… admitted that. So? What do you say?"

Blaine grinned. "Sure, that sounds nice. Can I call you?"

The boy told him his phone number, and added, "My name's Kurt, by the way. Might be useful to put that in there as well."

Blaine grinned in embarrassment. "Of course. I'm Blaine. It's very nice to meet you."

Kurt just nodded pensively in response, then checked his own phone. "I really need to go now, though," he said. "I told my dad I'd – well, I need to go."

"Me too," Blaine told him. He had a council to report back to. Perhaps he could just make something up during the ride back to Westerville. "I'll call you some time, then. And I'll text you when I'm back… home. So you have my number as well."

"Great," Kurt responded, smiling a bit. "I'll see you around?"

Nodding happily, Blaine waved at him before getting into his car. Kurt – who Blaine now realised didn't have his bag with him – walked back inside for a moment. While Blaine drove back to Westerville, he couldn't even come up with a good story to tell the council later – his thoughts were somehow completely occupied by Kurt. And he didn't even know the guy very well. He couldn't wait to find out what would happen to him once he _did_ get to know Kurt.

* * *

**A/N**: ... and once Blaine finds out Kurt's not technically out at this point, he's probably going to shower him with messages that only say 'Courage'. Hm. That sounds familiar.

Anyway, let me know if you have any thoughts/questions/comments/prompts; please leave a review! :D


	24. Original song

**A/N**: I'm not too sure about this chapter, to be honest. I wanted to try some 'new' characters, but I don't know if I can even write them. So... yeah. It's sort of a combination of ideas from _LiliesAreWhite_ and an anon who goes by _Laura_. Oh! And this story has almost 300 reviews :D Thanks so much, guys!  
That's all I've got to say for now. This must be the shortest start-of-chapter author note in the history of this story...

Hopefully you'll like it, and please leave a review at the bottom!

* * *

Their performance went well. Even though Aural Intensity had obviously known who the judges were going to be and sung a song especially to please then, Blaine was sure that the Warblers would at least place at this competition. Both their songs had been well-received by the audience. Plus, being an a cappella group, they were far more unique than the more mainstream clubs they were competing against.

Blaine wasn't the only one who was happy about the performance. All the Warblers were; even the ones who'd been sulking beforehand because Blaine had, once again, snagged both solos.

New Directions had yet to perform, so the group of private school boys hurried backstage, and then back into the audience, to see how the final show choir of the day was planning on beating their competition. The boys sat down in the seats that the other Glee club had previously occupied. The man Blaine vaguely recognised as the other club's director was looking at the stage expectantly. When the rest of the audience quieted down, Blaine turned to the stage as well.

A short brunette made her way to the front of the stage, while two other girls stood behind her. As the girl started singing, Blaine started, much like many other people in the audience. This song was entirely unknown to him. While that wasn't necessarily hard to accomplish – Blaine was well aware of the fact that he didn't know all songs in existence – it sounded very much like this girl, or maybe one of her teammates, had written the song herself. This assumption was strengthened when Blaine saw Wes slumping in his seat, looking defeated.

Now, the Warblers had their own harmonies, New Directions had their own songs and Aural Intensity had chosen songs to suck up to the judges. It was entirely unclear which team would win, place and lose now.

"They're doing original songs!" he heard Jeff mutter somewhere to his right, sounding completely in awe. Blaine chanced a glance at the director of the group, only to see that the man in question was smiling appreciatively. By now, more girls had gathered to join the two back-up singers, and the group got a standing ovation. Blaine's stomach clenched unpleasantly as he clapped along.

By now, a group of boys had joined the girls onstage. Blaine noticed that there were six of them, and the same amount of girls. That was almost too much of a coincidence for him to believe that this group had come to be naturally.

A new song started – a more upbeat one. The same girl was singing again, and to Blaine, it sounded like this group must have some serious issues with their peers. But, he had to admit, it was a fun song. The dancing was fairly disappointing, though, after what the group had shown to be capable of at Sectionals. Blaine almost felt like the Warblers had added more choreography to their performance than this group.

After the chorus (which, Blaine thought, sounded much like an invitation for bullies to shove them around even more), two boys – a very, very tall one, and a shorter one – sang the second verse. Blaine was surprised at how their voices sounded together – it wasn't how two male voices usually sounded together at all. Perhaps, Blaine reasoned, one of them was using their higher register to make it sound this way.

The chorus started again, and Blaine suddenly realised that a lot of people were standing up with what looked like big, foam hands. At exactly that moment, David, who was sitting in front of him, handed him such a hand before getting up as well. Blaine shrugged and followed his friend's lead, and half a second later, every Warbler was on their feet. So, naturally, when the performance ended (with big slushie cups, filled with confetti), the group got another standing ovation.

This was not good. For the Warblers, that was.

Before Blaine could sink back into his chair, Cameron, who was sitting next to him, grabbed his arm. "Wes said emergency meeting in the green room," he said when Blaine's head snapped towards him.

Of course. Blaine should've known this would happen. Right after their performance, they'd been so certain that it had gone so well, but now… it had still gone well, but had they been good enough?

When Blaine arrived in the greenroom, Wes was trying to get everyone to shut up – using a different wording, of course. After that came the freak-out about the fact that original songs had been used – something nobody had known was allowed, but was not in any way prohibited by the rule book. Wes told them they hadn't lost yet, not at all. Who knew what the judges thought about all this.

Before too long, the Warblers were allowed to venture outside the greenroom. Blaine was one of the first to take this opportunity and leave, wandering around the venue for a few minutes.

When he crossed the hall, someone called out, "Hey, Gargler!"

Blaine hesitated. He was fairly sure that it was probably someone who hadn't bothered to learn the names of the three show choirs and was now attempting to provoke him. He knew that, whoever the person calling was, they were, most likely, talking to him. Shaking his head minutely, he walked on, trying to seem unfazed by what just happened.

"Oi, Gargler!" the same voice shouted. "We're talking to you!"

A rough hand landed harshly on Blaine's shoulder, halting him and spinning him around. Blaine eyed his… assaulter with wide eyes. He hadn't been shoved or even grabbed like that since he'd come to Dalton. The boy in front of him – from the looks of it, he must actually be a New Directions member – was taller than Blaine (then again, most guys his age were), had a Mohawk, and was probably able to snap Blaine in a half if he wanted to. It wasn't a pleasant thought, and Blaine felt himself tensing up. He took a few steps back while keeping his eyes on the boy before him, unsure if he could somehow escape him.

The boy frowned down at him, as if he hadn't expected such a reaction from Blaine. All of a sudden, three more boys – all from the same Glee club – appeared next to him. The smallest in the group sighed, sounding annoyed. "Puckerman, what are you doing?"

The mohawked guy – Puckerman, apparently, shrugged. "Just messing around with the competition. What's it to you?"

The boy – who, Blaine realised now, was one of the two boys who'd sung the second verse to New Directions' second song earlier – turned to Blaine with an apologetic look in his eyes. "Don't mind Puck," he said, "he's got the brain capacity of a Neanderthal sometimes."

This seemed to offend the mohawked guy, and the two boys started quabbling. The other two – an Asian boy and a blond guy – just exchanged glances. "You're the Warblers' soloist, right?" the blonde asked him, and Blaine nodded, still hesitant. "You sort of look about to… make a run for it."

"Puck can be a bit crude sometimes," the Asian boy told him, most likely in an attempt to comfort him. "That's just how he gets."

Blaine shrugged. "I'm just not that comfortable with people sneaking up on me, I guess."

Again, the other two boys exchanged looks. Blaine felt like he was missing something. "Bullies?" the blond boy asked sympathetically. This seemed to catch the other boys' attention as well, as the boy presumably called 'Puck' stopped talking instantly and turned towards Blaine. The other boy massaged his shoulder – 'Puck', from what Blaine had seen, had just given him a very firm pat there.

Blaine frowned at them. Why would they want to know? Plus, he was well aware that these kids went to public school, which was where the problems for Blaine had started.

"That's – " he started to reply, before remembering what had just gone down – what kind of song the other club had just sung. He shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah," he said in the end, frowning at his shoes.

"That sucks," the boy with the Mohawk commented, while the shortest boy in the group was looking at Blaine with a sad smile on his face.

"Wait," he said all of a sudden. "Isn't Dalton supposed to have this… zero tolerance policy against bullying?" When the other boys stared at him, the boy shrugged. "I did my research."

The other three New Directions boys almost looked guilty at this. Blaine just wanted to be done with this subject as soon as possible. "It was at my old school," he said offhandedly. "But where did you get the inspiration for your song? They were both originals, right?"

"They were," the mohawked guy said, clapping his brown-haired friend on the back happily. The other boy glared at him. "We had our fun with writing songs."

At this, the blond boy frowned, but didn't speak up. The Asian boy tried to hide his grin. Again, Blaine felt like he was missing something.

"As for our inspiration," the smaller boy (though, Blaine noted, he was still taller than _him_), "we took the abuse thrown at us at a daily basis and put it into a song."

"Wait, Glee club isn't cool at your school?" Blaine asked, surprised.

"We're the school _losers_," the boy replied. "Hence our song."

"All those things happen to you?" Blaine was suddenly even more grateful to his parents for sending him to Dalton instead of just another public school.

"Not everyone gets it as bad," the blond boy told him. "But yeah, they do."

Blaine nodded in understanding. Of course – he was sure that the guy with the Mohawk, for instance, was perfectly capable of holding his own in a fight. He must get picked on less.

"So it's the singing and dancing everyone's opposed to," he observed, knowing that that was something his own father had some issues with as well. He'd told Blaine often enough that if he'd just quit the Warblers, and just played sports and video games like most boys his age, maybe he'd become… normal as well.

"It's _gay_," the brown haired boy responded, rolling his eyes. For some reason, this caught the attention of his teammates – even though they must be used to hearing that by now, Blaine thought – and the boy with the Mohawk eyed Blaine curiously.

"But at that private school of yours, it's probably hard to get any gayer," he commented.

Blaine narrowed his eyes slightly. He knew he couldn't do much – this guy was much bigger and bulkier than he was, and he had three friends to back him up – but he didn't like all the gay jokes that were made in relation to Dalton. He might be gay, yes, but it was surprisingly difficult to find other gay guys at school. Even though there was an anti-bullying policy, that didn't mean that lots of guys were fully comfortable to come out as of yet.

"Just the fact that it's an all-boys school doesn't mean it's a gay school," he told the boy, feeling (and most likely sounding) a bit peeved. The blond boy nodded in agreement.

"I used to go to a private school too, and people always assume those things," he said.

It was Blaine's turn to nod. "Some guys are gay, yes, but most just have girlfriends."

"And nothing ever goes down during parties?" the boy with the Mohawk asked, smirking slightly.

"Nothing that I'm aware of," Blaine replied somewhat stiffly. He wasn't a very big fan of parties and tended to stay away from them – except for Warblers' parties, that was, but even then, he made sure not to get involved in any crazy activities.

"Just leave him alone, Puck," the smaller boy told his teammate, sending Blaine an apologetic look.

For some reason, this caused the other boy to burst out laughing. "I bet you love the idea of a all boys school, don't you, Hummel?"

The smaller boy looked affronted, crossing his arms and pursing his lips. "Not if they're all idiots like you," he retorted.

This comment sent the two into another squabble. Blaine frowned. "Do you mean you're gay?" He honestly hadn't expected to find a gay boy in a public school choir.

"Are you?" the mohawked guy asked, narrowing his eyes slightly at Blaine.

"Yes," Blaine replied, braver than he felt at that moment. "I'm gay. And if you've got any problem with that – "

"He doesn't," the shorter boy interrupted him swiftly. Blaine realised only now that the other two New Directions guys seemed to have disappeared. Odd. "Not anymore, at least."

Before Blaine could ask anything else, the blond boy returned. "Come on, guys," he told his teammates, "they're going to announce the results, we need to get back on stage."

Blaine hurried along with the three other boys, hoping that the other Warblers had waited for him. Fortunately, they had. A few seconds after he walked in, a couple of other boys also came back from wherever they'd gone during the short break.

"Alright, Warblers," Wes started after taking a deep breath. "This is it. Just stay calm, whatever the results."

The Warblers were the last group to walk on stage, and Blaine easily spotted the boys he'd just been talking to. The governor's wife, who announced the results, clearly wasn't happy to be here and therefore, she didn't wait for too long to announce the results.

They'd lost. The Warblers had lost.

Alright, maybe they'd come in second (that wasn't announced), but they certainly hadn't won. They clapped anyway as New Directions got the trophy, so at least they wouldn't seem sour losers like the woman who coached Aural Intensity.

A little while later, as the Warblers were waiting for their bus to arrive, Blaine accidentally overheard part of a conversation – he honestly couldn't help it. The brunette who'd led New Directions to their victory was talking loudly about how the original songs had been her idea and that _she_ had personally, singlehandedly, secured the victory for her club, because both others choirs had been seriously lacking in just about every department that had to do with show choir.

It was pretty depressing to hear, Blaine thought.

"Just shut up, Rachel," the shorter boy Blaine had talked to earlier told her, sounding immensely annoyed. Now that Blaine thought about it, almost all New Directions members were sporting virtually identical irritated expressions.

When the boy saw Blaine looking, he mouthed, "Sorry," and Blaine smiled.

He shrugged and mouthed back, "Congratulations."

He had just enough time to catch the smile the boy sent him before Wes ushered him into the bus that, of course, had arrived at exactly that moment. Once he was on the bus, he looked out of the window, hoping to catch another glance of the group that, admittedly, fascinated him quite a bit. Unfortunately, they, too, were boarding their own bus, so Blaine just let it be. Perhaps they'd meet again at another competition next year.

* * *

**A/N**: I originally planned for Blaine to hear all about the bullying and the abuse going on at McKinley, but somehow, that didn't really seem to fit, especially with Puck there. Anyway, let me know what you thought of this (or if you've got another prompt :P), please review! :D


	25. Journey to Regionals

**A/N**: So, another Regionals chapter :) This was prompted by _SaphirePhoenix_, and I hope everyone will like it :) I'm actually not sure how the timing in this episode even works. So the entire club somehow went to the hospital, Quinn gave birth, and everyone was back in time to hear who won? And then all of them are suddenly back at school, even Quinn? :S It doesn't make much sense to me, but I stuck to it anyway.

I've already watched the PPP, so if anyone feels like venting, go ahead. I only realised now that this chapter also contains Finn glaring at Blaine. That wasn't planned. Anyway, I'm not going to rant about the episode here - if anyone wants to know what I thought (other than the standard I really liked it), go to my Tumblr page and sift through the first 12 pages. After watching the episode about 11 hours ago, I went on a reblogging spaz. But there are some text posts somewhere there with my opinion.

Also, 25 chapters and 300 reviews! I never thought that would ever happen xD So, a huge thanks to _Number1KurtHummelFan_ for the 300th review, and of course, to everyone else as well :)

Anyway, hopefully you'll like the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom to tell me if/how you liked it! :D

* * *

Blaine felt like an enormous pushover. The Warblers had – once again – lost their Sectionals competition to Vocal Adrenaline. Due to a lot of bad luck on their side, they had competed against the (current) national champion for at least the past five years – even when the other club hadn't been the national champion yet, they were still already able to beat the Warblers.

Therefore, they didn't know many other choirs. Still, for some reason, Blaine had been dragged along to Vocal Adrenaline's Regionals competition to see some of those other choirs. It had been Wes' idea, of course, as a member of next year's council. This had resulted in David and Thad being forced to come along as well, and, as it appeared, Blaine, for some reason he couldn't completely comprehend. He wasn't too happy about it either. Somehow, his friends always managed to string him along for things like this.

The first group of the day, Aural Intensity, had, most likely, been able to find out beforehand who the judges were going to be. There was no other logical explanation as to why they'd sung the songs they had. They'd very obviously been sucking up to the judges – who, Blaine noticed as he and his friends (and the rest of the audience, he assumed) were waiting for the second group to start, seemed elated about being honoured in song. Another judge, a tall blond woman, sat next to them, looking quite vindictive. Blaine wondered why.

Suddenly, music started, but the stage curtains were still closed. Confused, Blaine turned towards his friends, before catching sight of a boy standing near the final row of seats. As Blaine (and a growing amount of other people in the audience) watched, the boy walked down the rows, singing. When a girl emerged, singing the next verse, a snickering David turned to Blaine.

"Blaine, look! So there _are_ people our age who are shorter than you!"

Blaine scowled, but kept silent. He recognised the song these two were singing as an old Journey song his mother used to listen to when he was younger. After everything that happened, he wondered if she had had a special reason to play this song.

"Why don't they just use the stage?" Wes muttered as the two singers stood still in the middle of the audience. "It's big enough; they don't have to dace around here…"

It was as if the two performers had heard him say that, as they suddenly sped down the aisles and onto the stage. Finally, the curtains lifted and the remainder of the group (Blaine counted exactly twelve people – they were lucky nobody had gotten sick) came into their view. While the two lead singers kept singing, the others harmonised behind them, and, as Blaine had already expected, his three fellow Warblers seemed to appreciate that a whole lot.

When the song was over, Wes commented, "Maybe we should look into that some time next year – music to accompany us. We can still keep the harmonies, of course, but who knows what it sounds like with some music there as well!"

Blaine had heard enough about the Warblers to know that that was never going to happen – a few other members throughout the years had tried to add music to their repertoire, but the Warblers rules were so strict that it never worked out. Plus, most Warblers liked to stick to what had proven to work – namely, just the a cappella part, no music, just harmonies… it was comparable to the fact that the Warblers almost only sang Top 40 hits.

Not at all like the New Directions, who had started singing another Journey song. The song had barely started and already, people were standing up to sing or clap along. Wes was watching the group pensively, but Blaine was smiling widely. He had forgotten all about these songs, it seemed. The moment he'd get home, he would _have_ to look through his parents' old CD collection.

The same two students were singing lead again, but there was more dancing involved now. To Blaine, it looked like this group was definitely trying to beat Vocal Adrenaline at their own game, and as far as he was concerned, they should succeed in that. Obviously the choreography wasn't as… tight as Vocal Adrenaline's, but Blaine liked the playfulness it exuded.

The next song started with some harmonies again, and went by in the same manner as the previous one. Still, Blaine was relieved to hear that it wasn't just two students in the whole bunch who could sing. The other few who were allowed to sing some lines were good as well.

The group got a standing ovation before they rushed backstage, no doubt celebrating. Soon after, Vocal Adrenaline came on, and to Blaine, it was no surprise that they had put together such an elaborate musical number, complete with Jesse St James back at the lead vocals.

They were good, of course. Vocal Adrenaline was always phenomenal. Blaine couldn't help but hope, though, that they would _not_ win a competition for once.

Glancing around quickly, he caught sight of the female lead of New Directions. She was standing at the back of the room, her arms folded, watching the performance without any visible emotions. As Blaine looked better, he noticed that none of her teammates were here. Odd.

When the judges went to deliberate, everyone else went to get drinks or fresh air. Somehow, Blaine quickly lost his friends, leaving him to roam around by himself. Knowing Wes, he'd try to find one of the clubs' coaches or members to discuss the performances. Blaine didn't really feel much for that, which was why it was almost unfortunate that he bumped into the short female lead of New Directions as she exited one of the green rooms.

Vocal Adrenaline's green room, to be exact.

"Weren't you in New Directions?" he blurted out as the girl was about to walk off. She turned around and eyed him suspiciously.

"Are you a member of Aural Intensity?" she retorted. "Because in that case, I'd like to tell you that – "

"No, I'm not." Blaine took a few steps back as the girl stalked back towards him. "Honestly. I'm in a Glee club, but we didn't compete today."

"So you're here to spy," the girl deduced from that.

"My friends and I came here to see what other teams we might face in the event that Vocal Adrenaline is not our Sectionals competition next year."

Gradually, the girl seemed to soften a bit. "I was talking to their coach," she said, nodding towards the green room. She took a deep breath and let it out again before continuing. "I really hope we beat them. They don't deserve to win after what they did to us." Blaine didn't even need to ask her to elaborate – the girl did that without an incentive. She told him all about Jesse St James' seduction tactics and the funk his entire club had put her and the other New Directions students in, and Blaine was starting to feel very thankful for the fact that attending Dalton seemed to somehow keep the Warblers away from this kind of madness. "They were good, though," the girl finished, looking rather unhappy about this.

"So were you," Blaine told her, and the girl's demeanour changed completely. Instead of frowning, she was now beaming at him, with a wide smile on her face. She looked about ready to start another longwinded story when three of her teammates approached her. Only now did Blaine remember that they'd seemingly disappeared after their performance.

The tall guy who'd sung the duet with the girl frowned at the sight of the two of them together, while the other two were to busy talking to even notice them.

"Hey, Rachel," the tall boy said. The girl immediately shut her mouth and launched herself at the boy instead. The other two exchanged glances Blaine couldn't quite decipher. "Who's this?" the same guy continued, eyeing Blaine with distrust.

"I'm Blaine," he replied, holding out his hand, but the other boy didn't take it. "I uh… attend Dalton Academy in Westerville, I'm not in one of the other choirs, if that's what you're thinking."

"Oh, a prep school boy?" the girl who'd just arrived asked, smiling brightly. She leant towards her companion – a boy who was only slightly taller than Blaine himself – and started whispering.

"You could… say that," Blaine responded, blinking non-understandingly at what was going on in front of him. Suddenly remembering the tall guy – who was still half-glaring at him – he said, "I'm not trying to make a move on your girlfriend, alright? We were just… talking."

"Talking?" the guy asked, but the girl interrupted before either boy could say more.

"How's Quinn?" she asked, and the other girl responded.

"She's doing alright, considering the circumstances. I think the same goes for the baby. But… now that her mum wants her to come back home, I'm not sure if she's still giving her up for adoption."

"The baby was out pretty fast," the tall boy commented, looking a bit confused.

"Baby?" Blaine echoed, feeling both confused and horrified.

"One of our teammates had a baby just now," the other boy, who hadn't spoken out loud until now, told him. "Her water broke right after our performance."

It took Blaine a couple of seconds to react, intrigued as he was by the boy's voice. "You let a heavily pregnant girl perform?" he asked, aghast. "That can't be very safe – I mean, what if she'd fallen on stage? What – "

"She wanted it herself," the short girl responded, shrugging. "Plus, her due date wasn't that near yet. She wasn't supposed to give birth so soon." Blaine was honestly shocked to hear this. How could they let something like this happen? "Come on," the girl told the tall boy, clearly no longer interested in talking to Blaine, "let's go back to the greenroom, alright?"

With that, Blaine was left alone with the other two students, who, for some reason, didn't follow their teammates. The two exchanged another quick look before the girl turned towards Blaine. She looked him up and down for a second before asking, "Do you have a girlfriend?" For the second time within a minute, Blaine stood there, shell-shocked. "Of course he does," the girl now told her friend. "Guys like him – "

"I don't… have a girlfriend," Blaine replied, though wondering if maybe he should've lied, because he could guess what came after this. "But – "

The girl smiled beautifully; it was only too bad for her that Blaine wasn't exactly interested in her and her female… assets. The boy standing next to her, however…

"Do you maybe want to go out some time?" she asked, turning a little shy – not too much, though. "We don't know each other, obviously, but there are many people who go on blind dates all the time, so – "

"You'd be a fool to turn her down," the boy next to her warned Blaine. "She's _fabulous_."

It was almost too easy to say yes and go on a date with this girl. After all, it was bound not to work out. But that would be completely unfair, both to the girl (whose name he didn't even know, he suddenly realised) and to himself.

His parents might be happy, though.

He took a deep breath before replying, "I would go out with you in a heartbeat – I'm sure you're absolutely fabulous. It's just…" He hesitated for a moment, trying to find the right words. He was fairly sure these two wouldn't tear him down for being gay, since he had a distinct feeling the other boy was gay as well, which _should_ make it easier. For some reason, though, it wasn't really. "It's just that I'm not… interested in, well, girls."

The two friends both raised their eyebrows and shared an incredulous look. "Damn it," the girl muttered, nudging the boy next to her lightly. "Why are all the good ones gay?"

Reddening slightly, Blaine sent her an apologetic smile. _All the goods ones?_ Clearly, she knew more than Blaine did – in his experience, most good ones were not gay at all. And, in hindsight, not very good either.

"I hardly think that's true, Mercedes," the other boy told his friend. "I'm sure there are tons of straight guys out there who'd want to date you."

"If they're all like Puck, I think I'll pass," the girl replied, giving her friend a pointed look.

The boy sighed. "They won't be," he promised. "There'll be lots of boys who'd kill to be with an amazing girl like you."

Smiling slightly, the girl turned back to Blaine, who realised only now that he'd been staring at the other two with what must be a lost look on his face. When the girl smirked slightly, alarm bells started going off in Blaine's head – what was happening?

"Why don't _you two_ go out… tomorrow, perhaps?" she asked, glancing from her friend to Blaine. The two boys stared at her with wide eyes.

"W-What?" her friend asked, breaking the silence. "Mercedes, you can't just – he probably has – "

"Enough common sense to know he shouldn't let a chance like this pass," the girl – Mercedes, it seemed – continued for him.

Well. In his confusion, Blaine hadn't even taken the time to properly look at the other boy. Yes, he'd realised he was probably gay as well, but that was all. He swept his eyes across the boy's body as quickly as he could – lest this become very awkward for both of them – and back to his face, which was reddening at an alarming pace.

"Uh…," he said eloquently. "I guess we could give it a try?" The girl squealed happily, but her friend didn't seem too sure. "If you want to, that is," Blaine added swiftly. "If you don't, that's perfectly alright as well, I just thought – "

"He'd love to," the girl said, causing the boy to throw her a slightly scandalised look before looking back at Blaine.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to try," he admitted. Eyeing Blaine critically, he added, "Just try to wear something a little more fashionable, alright? I will as well, of course, seeing as – "

"Perfect!" the girl exclaimed. "Now, you two, exchange phone numbers, and then we have to head back to the greenroom. I think the judges will be ready soon."

After following her orders and exchanging phone numbers (and names, at that), the two New Directions members headed towards their greenroom, and Blaine walked back to where he'd been sitting during the show. His friends were there already, but he managed to not tell them too much about what he'd been up to – they'd tease him mercilessly, he was sure of it. Of course, they were alright with him being gay, but that didn't mean they couldn't do that. They did it to everyone, after all.

When it turned out that New Directions had come in third (which Blaine could not understand one bit), he texted Kurt as soon as they got into Wes' car, attempting to comfort him and asking if he was still alright with hanging out the next day. He could understand if the other boy didn't feel like doing that anytime soon.

As it turned out, Kurt didn't mind at all – it'd be a good distraction from everything, he said. Blaine smiled to himself. Perhaps that girl was (partly) right after all – at least some of the good ones were gay.

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**A/N**: What do you think? I hope you liked it :) If you have any comments/questions/prompts, let me know, please review! :D


	26. The Sue Sylvester Shuffle II

**A/N**: Not sure if anyone (else) noticed (probably not :P), but today, this story has officially been up for exactly 6 months! Yay :D

Anyway - the idea for this came from _njferrell _and this time, I think I followed the prompt a little closer... at least I hope so! This is, by the way, the first time I've written Carole (as far as I remember, that is), so I'm not sure if I went quite right with her :\ (that counts for all the characters, of course...). And for the sake of it, just assume that there are two high schools in Lima.

Hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to review at the bottom ;)

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Being the football fan he was, of course Blaine had secured himself a ticket for this year's Ohio high school championship game. He hadn't been able to find anyone willing to join him, but that certainly didn't spoil his fun. He knew he should be careful – after all, he was gay, and people attending football games weren't normally known for their acceptance of their homosexual fellow-citizens. On top of that, he was here all by himself.

When he entered the stadium, he quickly came to a halt. At least half the seats were already taken. Blaine had no idea where it was safest for him to sit.

"Are you lost, kid?" a gruff voice sounded from behind him, and Blaine spun around. It was a big, intimidating man, and Blaine felt himself cower.

"Just looking for a place to sit, sir," he replied as politely as he could in the state he was in. Only now did he notice a short woman standing next to the man. As she saw him staring, she smiled kindly at him, and Blaine felt slightly more at ease. Surely this man wouldn't do anything to him with his wife here – at least, he hoped so.

"Well, it looks like there's enough space left," the man told him, gesturing around. Blaine nodded feebly. Before he could reply and hastily get away, a boy who looked around his age walked up to them. He was wearing what looked like a thick coat, donned with, Blaine noted, a very nice striped scarf – and fingerless gloves, too. "What did he say?" the man asked when the boy reached them.

"According to Finn, they're still refusing to play," the boy replied, wrapping his arms tightly around himself. Blaine blinked. He'd never met a boy (his age, that was) with such a high, melodious voice. He decided he rather liked it. The man shook his head, but didn't say anything. "Who's this?" the boy asked suddenly, and Blaine realised with a start that the boy (who had, by the way, the bluest eyes he'd ever seen) was eyeing him curiously.

"Oh," he almost squeaked, "I'm Blaine, hi." He held his hand out, and the boy took it.

"Kurt," he introduced himself. "So what brings you here, Blaine? I don't think I've seen you here before, so unless you recently transferred…"

"Oh, no. I don't go here," Blaine said hastily. "I'm a big football fan, and this is the championship game, so I decided to come. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Kurt nodded. "You didn't bring anyone else with you?"

Blaine noticed that the man – Kurt's father, most likely – was watching their exchange slightly suspiciously. It didn't really do anything to calm his nerves around the man. "No one I knew was free tonight. The only people who were, don't like football so much."

"I don't either," Kurt confessed. "I'm just here to cheer for my friends and stepbrother."

"We should find seats soon," the man interrupted them. "You know, if we want to be able to see the game well."

Without much thinking – except, perhaps, that Kurt would make a great conversation partner; and they hadn't even talked that much yet – Blaine asked, "Would you mind if I say with you? I mean, I don't want to intrude, so… I could find somewhere else to sit, but – "

"Sure," Kurt interrupted him. "Someone is bound to sit next to us anyway."

"Kurt – " the man started.

"Dad," Kurt retorted, sending his father a pointed look. "You know it's true."

"I can just… leave, if it's too much of a problem," Blaine said quickly. Truth be told, this large man kind of really scared the living daylights out of him.

"Of course you can sit with us, dear," the woman told him with a friendly smile. With that, the argument seemed settled. When they'd found (pretty decent, to Blaine's surprise) seats, the woman continued, "So what school _do_ you go to, Blaine?"

"I go to Dalton, Mrs…," Blaine trailed off. He hadn't even taken the time to learn these people's names.

Again, the woman smiled. "Just call me Carole."

"Wait, is that that private school?" the man asked, leaning towards the rest of the group.

"Yes, sir, it is," Blaine answered, surprised that these people knew about Dalton. "You've heard of it?"

The family of three all exchanged looks. As the man engaged Carole in a conversation, Blaine turned towards Kurt with a questioning gaze, only to find the other boy shifting slightly in his seat.

"Apart from the fact that my former Glee club competed against the Warblers at Sectionals…," Kurt started, but didn't continue immediately as he stared intently at the back of the head of the person in front of him. Blaine stored away _that_ information for now. He hadn't realised that this was New Directions' school. If they'd known, he suspected that other Warblers might've come along here regardless of whether they liked football or not. Then, Kurt continued, "We looked into it when we were looking for another school. For me," he clarified. "Because it has that zero tolerance policy. But the tuition was far too expensive, so that option was out. Now I'm at Lima High School instead."

"There are scholarships you can apply for," Blaine pointed out.

Kurt nodded. "Yeah, I know. But not in the middle of the school year, apparently." He sighed. "Well, maybe next year."

Keeping half an eye on the field, Blaine asked curiously, "Why exactly did you switch schools?" It wasn't something you heard much – most certainly not in the middle of a year.

Kurt stared at the field too, clearly trying to buy himself some more time, or thinking of a way to not have to answer that question. His eventual answer was quiet in the ocean of sounds surrounding them, but Blaine heard it nonetheless; perhaps because he'd been expecting it, and he'd been in the same situation himself. Bullying; of _course_.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, hesitantly reaching out to lay his hand on Kurt's shoulder. "That must've been tough."

Kurt just shrugged in response, probably not feeling very comfortable with telling a stranger about his situation. "What about you?" he asked suddenly, turning sideways to face Blaine. "Have you always attended private schools?"

Blaine was well aware that he could easily lie and say that, yes, he'd always attended private schools. However, seeing as this boy he'd never seen before in his life had so readily (well, sort of) told him about _his_ problem, Blaine couldn't even think of lying. "No, I haven't," he therefore replied. "I went to public school initially, but when it was time to look for a high school, my parents sent me to Dalton."

Kurt frowned slightly, and Blaine wasn't sure if he liked the fact that he thought the other boy looked cute like that. "May I ask why?" Kurt asked, scrutinising Blaine closely.

Blaine smiled wryly. "Bullying," he responded, and Kurt's eyes grew wide.

"Really?" He sounded completely shocked. "I mean – that sucks, I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's okay," Blaine said with a shrug. "I'm at Dalton now, and I'm safe there. I try not to think about it too much."

Kurt nodded in understanding. "Yeah, me neither."

"Are things better at your new school?" Blaine asked, feeling slightly worried.

"A little," Kurt replied. "It's not like they don't – " He suddenly broke off his sentence and stared at Blaine for a moment. Then, he turned around to see if his parents were still there. Finally, he looked back at Blaine and continued in a softer voice, "They still hate… gay people there. But I'm not the only person out there, miraculously, and the faculty pays more attention. So it's a bit better."

"Good," Blaine replied a bit lamely. "That's… good."

Kurt eyed him silently. "If it disgusts you, you're free to leave," he told Blaine in a slightly colder voice, turning to stare stoically at the field.

Blaine's eyes widened. "What? No, of course not! I just… know how hard it can be when no one does anything, when nobody pays attention to the bullying. So it's good that the faculty at your new school's better at doing that."

Kurt looked at him suspiciously for a moment before relaxing. "Only just a bit, though," he said with another shrug. "But everywhere's better than McKinley for me."

At that (slightly awkward) moment, the game started, and both boys turned their eyes (and their attention) to the field. Not for long, though.

"That's your – I mean, their – football team?" Blaine asked, aghast.

Kurt sighed – hopefully, he wasn't annoyed by Blaine. "From what I've heard, the football and Glee club coaches wanted both clubs to get along better – impossible, if you ask me – so they forced all football players to join Glee. Then something happened, and the next thing you know, all of them quit Glee again – except for the ones who were already in the club before this whole situation, of course. Not that it's that much of a loss anyway, as far as I'm concerned. But the football coach apparently decided that Glee was mandatory, so if they quit that, they were off the football team as well. So there were really only a couple of players left, and they'd have to forfeit, but then someone came up with the brilliant idea that the Glee girls – well, the ones who were left, that is – would join the football team as well. A couple of girls quit the club too because the cheerleading coach had Regionals moved to tonight as well, so they had to choose." When Kurt was done, Blaine stared at the other boy in shock. What kind of school was this even? "Oh," Kurt added, shaking his head slightly, "I shouldn't have told you that, you're from their rival school."

"Maybe you shouldn't have," Blaine agreed, glancing at the field. It looked like the girls – most of them, at least – weren't _really_ playing. "They're just on the field so the team has enough players, right?" he asked Kurt knowingly. But while there were enough players, and about half the team actually consisted of football players, the team wasn't doing well. At all. The other team consisted only of real football players, after all, and they made sure McKinley's team knew this. "Were you in New Directions before you transferred?" Blaine asked Kurt. He realised too late that that was actually kind of a dumb question – after all, Kurt had told him he was here to cheer his friends on, and those friends all seemed to be part of the Glee club.

"I was," Kurt responded nevertheless. "It was the best part of the day. Sadly, Lima High has no music related extracurriculars."

Blaine nodded, and they fell silent again. It looked like Kurt easily lost interest in the game – his eyes seemed to glaze over and he was just staring at the field, not really paying attention to what was happening there anymore. Blaine chuckled inwardly as he noticed this. He, too, found it hard to concentrate on the game, as it was almost painful to watch. McKinley's team (or lack thereof) wasn't very good – the exact opposite, actually. Blaine hoped that it would be better after halftime.

Then he realised something. "If the cheerleaders aren't here, what's going to happen during halftime?" he asked Kurt, snapping the other boy out of his daze.

Rolling his eyes, Kurt replied, "Don't worry, there'll be a halftime show. That's actually part of the reason why the football team was initially forced to join Glee club. Of course, you won't get so ogle a bunch of scantily clad girls, but I'm sure you'll survive for once."

Blaine stared at Kurt confusedly. "Didn't I make it clear? I thought you – I'm gay too."

"You are?" Kurt sounded shocked, confused, intrigued – all at once. "Sorry, no, I didn't realise. You don't exactly scream 'gay', after all."

"I get that a lot," Blaine replied with a smile as charming as he could muster. "But I can assure you that it's true."

Kurt nodded. "I guess the football thing threw me off too. Way to break the stereotype, by the way."

Blaine laughed happily. It was as if any tension that had previously existed between the two of them had evaporated now.

When one of the girls on the field suddenly stood up from where she was lying down and ran for the ball, Kurt gasped – and he wasn't the only one. When the girl had grabbed the ball, she mad a run for it again, but right before she could score, a huge football player brutally tackled her. Now Blaine gasped as well. Seconds crept by as everyone in the stadium waited for the girl to show a sign of life. Kurt had grabbed the woman's sleeve in the meantime, and Blaine didn't quite know what to do with his hands.

Finally, the girl proved to be alright, and everyone let out a breath of relief. However, McKinley's team seemed to be discussing something, and suddenly, the team's quarterback ran off the field.

"What's he doing?" Kurt cried out in disbelief. "This is not the way to win a game!" His protests were echoed by his parents. Noticing Blaine's questioning look, Kurt informed him, "That's my idiot of a stepbrother, Finn."

"Okay," Blaine replied slowly. "So you don't know either what's gotten into him?" Kurt shook his head, his frown never leaving his face.

Soon, the first half was over. Since Kurt opted to stay where he was, Blaine chose not to leave as well. He probably wouldn't find his way back here if he did.

While Kurt talked to his parents for a bit, Blaine tried his hardest not to eavesdrop on their conversation. Instead, he looked around the field, trying to figure out what was about to happen. Normally, all these stereotypical football fans would want to see some cheerleaders, but Kurt had already told him that that option was out.

As he watched, people were setting up what looked like fog machines. Also, a complete marching band made its way onto the field. Blaine blinked. What on earth was going to happen?

Kurt, apparently, having seen the look in his eyes, smirked at him. "I told you it would be good," he said in a slightly teasing tone.

"Do _you_ know what they're going to do?" Blaine asked curiously.

Kurt shrugged. "I've heard some things. About… the band, and such. I know they're planning on performing a mash-up of sorts, dressed like – "

He broke off, and, looking at the field, Blaine instantly knew why. A large group of people (much larger than the football team had just been) made their way onto the field as well, looking like they'd escaped from some or other zombie movie. He wanted to ask Kurt what was happening, but his new friend was staring at the group in concentration.

"They're back," Kurt finally muttered. He said something to his parents before turning to Blaine once more. "The football team's back," he said, as if he couldn't quite believe it himself. "And – I think that's – the Glee club's cheerleaders are there as well! Wow, coach Sylvester will probably be very angry at them later!"

"That's good?" Blaine asked, unsure.

Kurt snorted, kind of. "Not necessarily for them, but for New Directions, that's great."

"And if all the football players are back, does that mean we'll get some actual football in the next half?" Blaine asked, feeling excited at the prospect.

Kurt rolled his eyes at him. "Yes, I think so."

Before Blaine could do anything to express his happiness about this, a voice rang through the stadium. Kurt quickly shushed him and both boys turned towards the field. One of the girls had started singing.

During the number – a very clever mash-up of _Thriller_ and _Heads will roll_ – the audience grew more and more enthusiastic, Blaine included. Only near the end of the song did he remember that these people were his competition. If they were this good _now_… he didn't want to know what they'd be like at Regionals. He'd have to inform the Warblers – or at least the council – about this the moment he got back to Dalton. _Bills, bills, bills_ suddenly didn't seem that good anymore.

After the well-deserved applause the group got for their performance, Kurt leant towards Blaine again. "How'd you like that?" he asked, sounding a little smug.

Blaine couldn't help but grin. "Much better than a cheerleading performance would've been," he replied honestly. And while Kurt mainly looked smug, Blaine noticed that there was also a look of longing in his eyes. Of course, he'd been forced to switched schools, he'd had to leave his friends behind. Blaine figured that must've been tough. Sure, he'd had to leave his former classmates behind as well, but none of _them_ had been his friends. He'd been nothing but relieved to finally escape. "You must really miss them," he commented, hoping that he wasn't overstepping.

Kurt nodded somewhat stiffly. "Of course I do."

Not really knowing what to say to that, Blaine just nodded mutely in response.

Luckily, the second half of the match soon started. As Blaine had already hoped, the football players were back on the team again, which was instantly noticeable. _This_ was the kind of football Blaine had come to watch.

Every now and then. Kurt eyed him strangely out of the corner of his eye, but Blaine didn't let that faze him too much. Kurt's father was just as enthusiastic about the game as he was, so _he_ wasn't the one acting oddly, right? And Kurt was probably used to it anyway.

"You know," Kurt spoke up suddenly, "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you went to McKinley." Catching Blaine's slightly confused look, he added, "You're so excited. You'd think you actually go to school here, what with you cheering the team on like that."

Blaine grinned. "I told you, I'm a big football fan," he replied. "I don't really mind who wins, either way I've seen a nice game of football tonight. Still, since I'm sitting here with you, I figured it'd be nice to cheer for your friends and your old school, instead of the opponents."

Kurt smiled back. "Fair enough. That's very considerate of you, Blaine. Besides, I think most people around us wouldn't have appreciated you doing that either."

"Oh, right," Blaine said, suddenly realising that the biggest part of the audience must be McKinley supporters indeed. "Of course."

Before they knew it, there were only a few seconds left of the game. While the home team had managed to make an enormous comeback, the visitors were still about to win.

"Well, they tried," Kurt commented, and Blaine nodded in agreement. The first half had been awful, but during the second half, the McKinley Titans had completely redeemed themselves. It was a pity they didn't –

"What are they doing?" Blaine asked in alarm when a chant started echoing across the field. More and more people change along, and then he heard it – they were really out for blood now, it appeared.

When Kurt joined in, Blaine hesitantly started chanting as well. He wasn't sure what kind of master plan the team had come up with, but if this helped then –

Okay, so it really did help. Very well, too, Blaine observed. Due to the chants ringing out, the opposing team's quarterback had severely messed up, which allowed McKinley's team to have another shot at winning – and win they did.

The stadium exploded.

Next to Blaine, Kurt was jumping up and down happily, cheering at the top of his lungs, and before he knew it, Blaine was jumping and cheering along.

Once everything and everyone had sufficiently calmed down, everyone started to leave the stands, and Blaine and Kurt stood there somewhat awkwardly. "Thanks for letting me join you and your family tonight," Blaine said, still thankful for that. "I don't know where I would've sat if it wasn't for you."

Kurt smiled back at him. "It was nothing. Besides, I had fun, so it was definitely worth it."

Blaine nodded in agreement. "Yeah, me too."

As silence enveloped the two of them, Kurt's father leant towards them. "We're gonna go down and find Finn. You coming, kiddo?"

Kurt glanced from his father to Blaine and back. "Just a moment, dad. I'll be right with you." The man nodded, and Kurt turned back to Blaine. "I was thinking… maybe we could do this again? But, you know, preferably without the whole football… thing."

So that meant that Kurt didn't want to see another football game with Blaine… but he did want to hang out, right? "That would be awesome," Blaine replied, beaming at his new friend, fumbling around to find his phone in the pocket of his coat. After Kurt did the same, the two swiftly exchanged phone numbers.

With a quick goodbye, Kurt joined his parents as they walked down as well, most likely searching for his stepbrother and congratulating him on winning the match. Blaine, too, walked down, and back to the parking lot.

So he'd survived, he mused, as he sat down in his car. Not only had he survived, he'd also met a (very) cute gay guy his age who seemed to appreciate his company as well, and… oh yeah. He had gotten some new information on their Regionals competition.

He wondered if Kurt knew that he was, in fact, the Warblers' lead singer. Would he have proposed to hang out again if he'd known? Blaine hoped he would've.

When he was finally able to leave the parking lot, Blaine suddenly realised that Westerville was still two hours away. Well – luckily, he had some thoughts – and music – to distract him during the drive.

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**A/N**: So, what do you think? :D Let me know, please leave a review!


	27. A very Glee Christmas III

**A/N**: So. The King's Island Christmas Spectacular. Yes, I know there hasn't been one for years, but apparently, there was one just last year in the Glee universe. Either that, or Blaine was really only looking for an excuse to sing with Kurt. Which would make perfect sense, if not for the fact that he didn't realise his feelings for Kurt until months later. But yeah, as said, that's where this chapter starts off. As for Rachel being there - there are non-religious Christmas songs, and this might be one of those credit things she could use to get into a good university, right? (or am I being silly now? :S) Also, Rachel and Finn did not break up here. Rachel probably didn't cheat on Finn with Puck, or someone made Finn see he was being a hypocrite if he broke up with her over that. You can choose :) Anyway, this was prompted by _SaphirePhoenix_. I hope you like this! :)

Also, another note, in regards to the prompts... you can still send them, of course, that's not the problem :) I may just sometimes combine things here and there, or incorporate them in another story, especially if prompts are vaguely alike, or if the prompts themselves are, well, vague. So there is some interaction (though mostly just mentioned) with both Burt and Rachel's dads here (I know both have been prompted, but I'm not sure by who), but those things happen throughout the story and won't always be mentioned specifically. And as always, this story is about different meetings within the frame of the show/episodes, so I'd prefer the individual prompts to be from a single episode. I'll stop rambling now :)

Hopefully you'll enjoy the story, and please leave a review at the bottom! :D

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Kurt had literally no idea why he was here. He understood that Finn had wanted to come – and even if he hadn't wanted to come, Rachel would've forced him to be here – but why was it necessary for their entire family to come along? He hadn't been to King's Island for years, and if he'd wanted to go back some time, he would've done so when it wasn't freezing, like it was doing now.

He wasn't sure what to expect from this so-called King's Island Christmas Spectacular. All he knew that it was probably full of self-centred, big-headed singers who all hated each other because they all thought _they_ were the best of all. After all, Rachel was one of the performers, so that was virtually the only logical conclusion to draw.

It was a full house, nevertheless – most likely all proud family members of the aforementioned arrogant performers no one could stand. Kurt, seated in between his dad and Finn – on whose other side Rachel's dads were sitting – felt out of place here, and very much so. Perhaps his dad felt the same, though.

The first couple of performances were nothing all too special, in Kurt's opinion – one or two singers singing a classic Christmas song. After a while, Kurt asked Finn, "Did Rachel tell you which song she was going to sing?"

Finn nodded. "Yeah, she said she got a duet with some guy… I think it was _Baby, it's cold outside_."

Of course. One of Kurt's personal favourites. Now he would be unable to ever listen to that song again without being reminded of Rachel and her animal sweaters. Which reminded him – hopefully she'd chosen to wear something better today. Or maybe the performers got their costumes here.

But still – "Isn't that song about date-rape?" he asked Finn, who frowned.

"It is? But – " Finn thought for a moment, processing the information. "So she's singing that – with some random – he'd better not – "

"Rachel knows better than that," Kurt reassured him, though not completely sure of this himself. After all, the blow-up after Santana revealed that she and Finn had had sex a year prior was still fresh in everyone's minds, especially Rachel's. Finn looked a little more at ease, but not very much so.

Finally, it was Rachel's turn, and Kurt was relieved to see that she wasn't wearing one of the animal sweaters. He had no doubt, however, that one of those atrocities were lying in her dressing room for afterwards.

When the boy she'd been paired with joined her on stage, Kurt felt Finn stiffen beside her. "That's the guy?" his stepbrother muttered worriedly. Kurt couldn't deny that the boy on stage was very good looking, from what he could see at this distance. But –

"Finn," Kurt said patiently, "I think that guy is actually shorter than me. And you know how much Rachel likes height." Sure, the boy was taller than Rachel, but that wasn't much of an accomplishment.

His height notwithstanding, the boy on stage had a terrific voice – much better, in Kurt's opinion, than the other guys he'd heard here so far. He couldn't help but wonder, however, where he'd seen him before – because he looked very familiar for some reason.

Rachel and her duet partner acted the part well, and Kurt knew that Finn was relieved when part of the song – namely, the part that would've involved the two performers having to kiss – was obviously cut out. Kurt was glad for the boy that Rachel had a boyfriend – if she hadn't, she might've looked past the height issue and thrown herself right at him. That would've made for an odd dynamic between the two.

There were only a few more performances after that, for which Kurt was grateful – he loved Christmas and all, but to hear every Christmas song in existence performed here… that was just too much. Especially since some of them were very bad, or badly performed.

After a so-called grand finale, the show was over. Rachel had somehow managed to convince everyone that they had to go out for dinner afterwards to celebrate, and to Kurt's horror, she had gotten what she wanted. When she eventually emerged – wearing one of those animal sweaters again – she was dragging her duet partner with her, and the two seemed to be arguing.

When Rachel, however, rushed over to her fathers to greet them, the boy was silent and stared at the scene in shock. Kurt didn't know what exactly that meant, but he was slightly suspicious. After Rachel had greeted Finn as well (while Finn had been glaring at the boy over her shoulder), she addressed them all, grabbing the boy's arm.

"Everybody, this is Blaine, my duet partner! Blaine, meet my dads and Finn, my boyfriend, and his family! Blaine's family couldn't make it today so I invited him to have dinner with us! That's okay, right?"

While the adults discussed this, Kurt and Finn exchanged glances, neither of them all too thrilled about this new arrangement. In the meantime, the boy now identified as Blaine asked Rachel quietly, "You have two dads?"

Kurt felt the urge to grit his teeth, but before he could do anything, Rachel replied, "Yes, I do. Why would that be a problem? I'm sure they could give you some useful tips here and there. Oh!" She waved the two other boys over, who slowly approached them. "Kurt – Blaine's gay as well, so you'll keep him company, right?" Edging closer to him, she whispered conspiringly, "As long as you don't talk about set lists, of course. He's the lead Warbler, remember?"

Now Kurt remembered. He wondered why he hadn't realised it before, as Sectionals was only a couple of weeks ago. "Rachel," he started, keeping his voice low as well, "what is this? Why are you dragging someone you hardly know along to dinner only to – "

"His parents aren't here and none of his friends could make it," she repeated. "Plus, don't tell me you don't think he is at least a little but attractive?"

Kurt scoffed. "You aren't selfless enough to come up with that, Rachel."

Huffing indignantly, Rachel crossed her arms. "Fine," she admitted, "I thought that if I brought Blaine, the two of you would have our parents' attention, since your dad's so protective and my dads really don't mind giving out advice on homosexual relationships and then Finn and I could do some cutesy couple-y stuff without being looked at all the time."

"I don't even know the guy, okay," Kurt hissed at her, noticing that Finn and Blaine were just standing there awkwardly, watching them with confused expressions, just waiting for the parents to come back. "And I don't know your dads that well either! Getting relationship advice from them when I'm not even in a relationship and my dad's _right there_ – that's just wrong on so many levels."

"But he's nice," Rachel countered. "Really, Kurt, you should just talk to him. I'll ask my dads to keep the relationship advice to a minimum. Maybe they can talk to your parents about life for a gay teenager – "

Kurt groaned. Rachel, however, now turned back to Finn and Blaine with a large smile on her face. She swiftly grabbed Finn's hand and dragged him over towards where their parents were standing.

"Are you alright?" Kurt whipped around to stare at Blaine for a moment. Then, he gestured somewhat helplessly in Rachel's direction.

"She – Rachel's – "

Blaine nodded carefully. "She's a handful, isn't she?"

Kurt pulled a face. "You have _no_ idea."

Blaine chuckled. "So you're her… boyfriend's brother?"

"Stepbrother," Kurt corrected him.

"And you're in New Directions as well?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow at him. "She told you about that?" He had thought that she would've kept silent about that, for some reason. Then again, if Rachel could brag about something…

"When she heard I attend Dalton, she let me know immediately that her Glee club would wipe the floor with mine at Regionals." Blaine shrugged. "So I told her that I wasn't so sure about that and that we plan on not making it easy for you guys."

"I wouldn't expect you to," Kurt told him in a slightly challenging tone, causing Blaine to grin.

"Come on," he said. "I think they're waiting for us."

o-o-o-o-o

All in all, Kurt supposed he should be grateful to Rachel for providing him with someone to converse with during dinner – someone who had mostly the same interests as him, who was also gay, and somehow managed to be both attractive and adorable at the same time.

Not that he would ever actually _thank_ Rachel.

"Why weren't your parents at the show?" he asked Blaine at some point, while the others were engaged in small talk too. Kurt hoped that Rachel's dads weren't actually trying to educate his parents in how to raise a gay teenager.

Blaine shrugged, looking down at his plate. "They're on a business trip. I've no idea where they are at the moment, but I doubt that they would've come if they'd been home."

Kurt frowned. "Why not?"

"My parents aren't very big fans of the idea of me singing and dancing around," Blaine replied softly. "They're also not too keen on the idea… since they don't see it as a fact… that I'm gay. And they think that the singing and dancing made me gay – or at least think I'm gay."

"I'm sorry," Kurt replied, smiling sadly.

"So I guess it's for the better that they weren't here," Blaine concluded. "If they'd found out that the girl I had a duet with has two gay dads… I don't know what they'd have done." After a slightly awkward silence, Blaine asked, "How did your parents react?"

Kurt glanced at his dad, who was trying (and failing) to not look a little uneasy – Kurt didn't even want to ponder what the conversation could be about. "My dad said he'd known since I was three," he answered Blaine's question with a small laugh. "So I guess my mother must've known about it too by then. As for Carole… well, I don't think I've ever officially come out to her, but she never seemed to have an issue with it."

Blaine looked wistful. "I'm glad – " he started, but there was obviously a lump in his throat. "I'm glad there are parents who are like that," he finished.

Before Kurt could react, one of Rachel's dads turned towards the two of them, "Kurt, Rachel tells us that the bullying has stopped considerably since she interfered and had the guys look out for you more."

Kurt stared at the man for a moment before glancing at Rachel. Said girl was smiling proudly in her seat, and Kurt had to fight back the urge to roll his eyes. Of course she would take the credit and make it sound bigger than it seemed.

True, he wasn't bullied as badly as before, but that was not to say it didn't happen anymore. The jocks had just gotten more creative (Kurt never thought he'd see the day) and cornered him when none of the other Glee kids were around. He was still too proud to tell them about that, and while Rachel definitely needed to be put into place, Kurt wasn't about to come clean.

So he just forced a smile and replied, "It's gotten better, yes. At least I feel safer at school now." He purposefully didn't look at Rachel anymore.

Mr Berry nodded solemnly. "Good. If anything gets out of hand, you know you can always contact us, alright? We'll figure out a way to sue the school if something happens."

Kurt's father started a discussion about that with both Rachel's fathers, and Kurt turned back to his food… and Blaine – who was looking at him like he wasn't buying his story at all.

"What?" Kurt asked defensively, trying to play it cool. "Do I have food in places where it shouldn't be?"

Blaine chuckled mildly before turning dead serious again. "You're being bullied?" he asked.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Come on, Blaine. I know you attend a private school and all, but you can't think that all kids our age are completely alright with the thought of someone being gay, right? Of course I get bullied." He scoffed in an attempt to convince Blaine that it was really nothing, but again, Blaine didn't seem to believe him.

"I know that," he protested. "I went to a public school before Dalton and it was awful. And yes, Dalton is safe. It has a zero-tolerance policy against bullying. You may want to check it out some time."

"Don't even think about stealing Kurt away from us!" Rachel said loudly, her eyes blazing.

Again, Kurt scoffed. "Do you really think you have a say in what I do or do not do, Rachel?" he asked, peeved. "And is the competition really more important to you than my safety?" Before she could protest, he pressed on, "Why were you even listening in to our conversation anyway? Didn't you want some cosy couple-y time with Finn?"

"You certainly know how to shut people up," Blaine observed, sounding slightly in awe.

Kurt shrugged. "It doesn't help against the bullies, if that's what you're implying. But with Rachel, it comes natural. I mean, have you _seen_ her sweater today?"

Blaine placed his hand in front of his mouth to avoid laughing out loud. "Unfortunately," he responded after a moment, when he was no longer in danger of bursting into giggles. "Does she always wear stuff like that?"

Kurt nodded gravely. "It's _horrific_. I've threatened multiple time to burn her entire closet down or just use a pair of scissors to destroy them, but she won't let me."

"It's a crime against fashion," Blaine observed, and Kurt stared at him for a moment.

"How much do you know about fashion?" he asked contemplatively.

Blaine shrugged. "I like to think I have some knowledge about the subject – clearly not as much as you do, but I doubt that's abnormal. I read fashion magazines, but I can't _really_ be bothered to follow all the trends, mainly because I'm in uniform most of the time anyway."

Kurt shuddered at the thought of having to wear a uniform at least five days a week. He quickly shook off the thought and proceeded to engage Blaine in a conversation about _Vogue_, something the other boy seemed quite enthusiastic about as well, much to Kurt's delight.

This evening was shaping up to be not quite as disastrous as he'd expected beforehand. Far from it, actually.

o-o-o-o-o

By the time dinner ended, Kurt and Blaine had managed to keep a steady conversation going about all kinds of things, albeit it with various interruptions, courtesy of Rachel, her fathers, or Kurt's dad. Rachel kept trying to make sure they wouldn't grow too close, seeing as Blaine was still the competition – naturally, that mission failed, and Kurt told her firmly that this was her own fault. After all, she was the one to invite Blaine to dinner with them, and to give Kurt the job of entertaining Blaine all night. Perhaps she couldn't have known that by the end of the night, the boys would have exchanged phone numbers and planned on hanging out again soon, but really – what else had she expected?

Rachel's fathers had given them all kinds of advice about what to do as gay boys in a state like Ohio, tried to get them to come to various meetings, and generally observed them, apparently – which Kurt found slightly unsettling. Both he and Blaine had been quick to Mr and Mr Berry that they had no intentions of staying in Ohio after high school, which caused a whole new flood of questions and advice.

Kurt's father had made the strangest interruptions, as far as Kurt was concerned. He'd randomly ask one of the boys to hand him the salt or the pepper, for instance, even though Kurt told him time and again that he shouldn't eat so much salt, and that there was also salt and pepper within a foot from him.

He'd have to ask about his father's odd behaviour later.

After everyone had said their goodbyes (Finn and Rachel taking the longest to do so), they all got in their respective cars, ready to head back home.

"You know…," Finn suddenly started. "Kurt, that guy you were talking to… he looked familiar to me. Don't you think so, Kurt? I'm sure I've seen him before, but I forgot where and when and why… Kurt?"

* * *

**A/N**: So... what do you think? :) Let me know, please review! :D

PS: 100,000 words. That is all.


	28. Silly love songs II

**A/N**: So... In this chapter, as you'll also see, Kurt is actually at Dalton, but he never spied, and he doesn't know Blaine besides knowing that he's in some of his classes. The Sam/Quinn thing in this chapter is only handled at a later time on the show, but this was as good a time as any, and it's AU anyway. And some other Warbler came up with the idea of performing at Breadstix, as prompted by _A Diffrent Type Of Flower_ :)  
Also, 'Asian F' - I'm not going to talk about it here, although I'm sure most of you have seen it already. Feel free to stalk my tumblr about it, though, or talk about it in a review :P I liked the episode, but I sort of really hate the fact that the next episode is so far away.

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom!

* * *

Valentine's Day was not Kurt Hummel's favourite holiday. By far. In fact, one might say it was _this_ close to being his least favourite holiday. All the lovey-dovey couples around him just made him either want to vomit or yearn for something like that for himself.

Luckily for Kurt, Dalton was an all-boys school, which meant that there were visibly less couples walking the hallways as compared to, for instance, McKinley. However, that also meant that the couples who _did_ walk around here were solely gay couples, which, in turn, depressed Kurt even more, if possible. After all, it was proof that there _were_ actually more gay guys in Ohio than just him (and a certain closeted football player at McKinley he preferred not to think about), but none of them were interested in him, and _he_ was still all alone.

Oh well; at least he hadn't been subjected to watching all the New Directions members serenade their significant others in the choir room the past week. From what he'd heard from Mercedes, it had been cavity-inducing. He also supposed it was a good thing Finn was still (or again, Kurt didn't know anymore by now) single, so the house was safe from teen romance as well. They'd managed to convince their parents to go spend the weekend together somewhere, as it _was_ their first Valentine's Day together. That would've been all fine and dandy, had it not been for the fact that Finn, who'd somehow managed to get mono (which, in Kurt's opinion, was bound to happen when you were on a mission to kiss each and every girl in school; if Finn had done something like this last year, who knew what Kurt – well, ew. He didn't want to think about _that_ anymore), had been in his bed the entire time and had constantly complained about everything and anything. Kurt had been reduced to being his stepbrother's personal servant, at least on Saturday. On Sunday, he'd had enough and had managed to ignore Finn for the better part of the day.

After a long day of classes, Kurt was looking forward to just going home and rest up for a bit, even though the school week had just started. However, he had been given a huge load of homework that he hoped to at least partly finish today, and he'd also promised Mercedes that they'd go to Breadstix later, to celebrate their singleness, or something like that.

It was a good thing he'd already picked his outfit for the evening, as the traffic between Westerville and Lima was ridiculously busy that day. Kurt barely had time to do his hair before he was out of the door again to pick up Mercedes.

On the drive over to Breadstix, Mercedes informed him that most other New Directions members would be there as well (the only people who wouldn't be there were, in fact, the two people who were down with mono). Kurt actually looked forward to that – while he did sometimes see Mercedes or Rachel, or even Tina, during the weekends, he hadn't properly spoken to most of his McKinley friends since the Christmas break.

When they entered the restaurant, they were immediately ambushed by none other than Rachel, who dragged them to the table she had obviously already claimed.

"I didn't realise we were actually sitting with Rachel," Kurt muttered to Mercedes on their way over. His friend just shrugged.

"When she heard I got you to come, she insisted on joining us. Maybe she was hoping you'd brought Finn."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Yeah, no. Finn's still in bed all the time, expecting me to comply to whatever he wishes."

"Are you talking about Finn?" Rachel asked eagerly. "How's he feeling? Don't you think it's very suspicious that both he and Quinn have mono now? They've _obviously _been fooling around even though – "

"They're not fooling around," a voice suddenly said from next to them. It was Sam. "Quinn told me what really happened. Finn was choking on a piece of gum, and she saved his life." Kurt and Mercedes exchanged glances, not quite sure how to break it to Sam that yes, Quinn and Finn _were_ fooling around. Rachel just stared at the blond boy incredulously. "Hey, Kurt," Sam greeted him. "How's Dalton treating you?"

"Hey, Sam," Kurt said in reply. "Quite well, actually. It's much better than McKinley – classes are harder, but the other students are much kinder, which is a relief."

"I bet you think you've died and gone to gay heaven," another voice came before Sam could respond.

"Santana," Kurt acknowledged her, ignoring what she'd just said. "Nice to see you again too."

As Santana sat down in the seat next to her, Rachel squirmed slightly and asked, "What are you both doing here anyway?"

Santana shrugged. "This is Breadstix. I don't need an excuse to eat here, I'll take any opportunity I can get, even if it's _Valentine's Day_ and I don't have a date." She let her eyes wander around the restaurant. "But maybe by the end of the night I might have one anyway."

"Quinn told me to go even if she couldn't come along," Sam replied. "I'd already made reservations, you see. Would it be okay if I joined you guys, though?" When no one had any issues with that, he added, "I just have to go and… cancel the reservation, then."

As he walked away, Santana moved a bit closer to Rachel, who cleared her throat loudly at this. "What?" Santana asked her, sounding annoyed. "We have to make room for Sam, don't we?"

"He's still with Quinn, Santana," Mercedes reminded her. "You shouldn't try to make a move on him now…"

"Why not?" the other girl asked airily. "It's what Finn did…"

Despite the current conversation, Kurt smiled; he really missed hanging out with girls. He had some friends at Dalton, of course, boys who were in various classes with him, but he was one of the few students who didn't board, which meant that the only times they sometimes hung out was in between classes, and once or twice after school. Now that he thought about it, maybe those friends weren't really… friends.

He supposed that if he joined a school club, he'd make more friends, but that would leave him with even less time to do his homework, or to spend with his family. Sometimes, he thought boarding would make it all much easier – but it was also much more expensive than the gas prices of driving to Dalton and back everyday.

"Finn's is not exactly the best example to follow," he reminded Santana mildly, causing Rachel to look indignant.

"This is hardly Finn's fault," she instantly tried to defend him. "Clearly Quinn – "

"Just shut up, midget," Santana snapped at her, just as Sam came back and squeezed in next to Santana. "No one wants to hear you talking about yourself all night long."

"I wasn't – " Rachel started to protest, but Santana turned to face Kurt, ignoring the girl next to her.

"You didn't have a hot date tonight with one of those prep school boys over at gay Hogwarts?" she asked him challengingly. "I'm disappointed, Hummel. I thought you had better game than this. How many guys have you done the dirty with so far?"

Kurt knew that he must've instantly turned beet red. "W-What?" he asked, staring at her incredulously.

"I think you just broke him," Mercedes informed Santana disapprovingly.

"We're here to celebrate the joys of being single," Rachel added.

Santana eyed her disbelievingly. "Well, of course _you_ are, dwarf. No one in their right mind should want to go out with you on any day. I just figured that in a school like that, all those guys must be horny as – "

"It's an all-boys school, Santana," Kurt interrupted her. "Not everyone's gay. In fact, hardly anyone I know of is gay there. And if they _are_ gay, they're already taken."

Sam nodded in agreement. "People think that a lot, but an all boys school doesn't mean all students are gay."

Santana seemed unimpressed. "You can always ask those couples if they'd be interested in a threesome. The sex gets boring at some point anyway, with some people sooner than with others, but it always happens." She looked around at her companions and sighed heavily. "Not that _you_ would know. Ugh, _why_ did I have to sit with some of the biggest virgins in this town?"

There was an awkward silence for a moment. Luckily, a waitress soon arrived to take their orders, after which Rachel turned to Kurt once more with a determined look on her face. "Kurt, I know that you don't want to betray the New Directions, but you must _really_ consider trying out for the Warblers. Yes, they are our competition, but every day I'm saddened by the knowledge of your voice not being used and eventually, it's going to suffer from that. And sure, your voice isn't quite as good as mine but it was still one of the better ones in the club and it's a shame that you're not doing anything – "

"I drive from Lima to Westerville and back every day," Kurt reminded her. "That's almost four hours spent in my car. What do you _think_ I do in that time?"

"Yes, but…," Rachel was searching for words now, which was rather unusual for her, "it _kills_ me that you're wasting your voice like that – it would be much better to use it in a _slightly_ more professional way and – "

"So you're saying that Kurt should join the Warblers," Mercedes deduced from Rachel's rant.

"And use my voice to produce one of the back-up noises while one and the same guy sings each and every solo they have to offer," Kurt added, causing his four friends to stare at him – three of them in disbelief and confusion, Rachel as if her dreams had come true; as if she didn't get almost every solo in New Directions.

"The same one who sang at Sectionals?" Sam asked, and Kurt nodded. "He's a pretty good singer, right?"

"Well of course he is," Rachel responded. "Of course they're giving the best singer all the solos. Mr Schue could learn a thing or two from the Warblers."

Mercedes narrowed her eyes at Rachel. "You're lucky you're sitting all the way over there, or else I would've cut you on the spot."

"I'll throttle her for you," Santana volunteered.

Rachel moved even closer to the wall and said, "But that's good to know, that the same guy gets all the solos; at least we now know what we're up against!"

Santana rolled her eyes. "So what she's saying is, you should join those Gargler guys and then tell us all their secrets so we win Regionals," she told Kurt.

Kurt raised an eyebrow at the two girls. "Have you already forgotten how awful we felt last year when we realised that Vocal Adrenaline probably knew every last bit of information about us? Do you really want to do that to others?"

"Sure, why not?" Santana replied, looking like she really couldn't care less.

Before Rachel could reply, somebody very audibly cleared their throat. They all swivelled around to see what was going on, and Kurt could feel his eyebrows almost reaching his hairline. Well, speak of the devil…

o-o-o-o-o

Blaine honestly didn't know whose idea this was, but he knew that in some way, it was his fault. He'd been the one, after all, to propose an off-campus performance. Not in this restaurant two hours away from Dalton, no, at the Westerville mall. At the Gap, to be exact. However, none of his teammates had really felt for that plan, leaving Blaine to make the trek to the store by himself, only to find Jeremiah flirting with one of the customers, much like he'd done with Blaine a couple of weeks ago, or so Blaine liked to think. Well, at least Blaine now knew the older boy (man?) definitely wasn't interested in him without having to possibly make a complete fool out of himself.

When he'd returned to Dalton, he'd been told that the Warblers _were_ going to perform, in some restaurant in Lima, on Valentine's Day. Now that Blaine didn't have a date anyway, he was all for it – at least he wouldn't have to spend the evening alone. When he'd asked the council why they'd agreed to do _this_, but hadn't gone along with his proposal, Wes had stiffly explained to him that providing musical entertainment in an establishment such as a restaurant called Breadstix was something entirely different from helping Blaine win over a guy he barely knew with a song that was highly inappropriate and would surely become a cause of great controversy once the Dalton staff found out about it.

Fair enough, Blaine figured, not really in the mood at the time to argue due to the rejection that sat fresh in his mind.

So here they were, standing in perfect Warbler formation, waiting for Wes to be done talking heatedly with the lady who apparently worked here and just announce them already. Blaine let his eyes wander around the restaurant. Most tables were occupied, of course, by couples, but there were a few groups of people as well, like the bunch of teens over there who seemed to be discussing something urgently –

And now Wes had started talking, introducing their group as the Dalton Academy Warblers, and telling the guests that they'd be singing a couple of songs in honour of Valentine's Day. Blaine noticed a couple of people, including the group he'd just noticed, exchange glances, either confused or… some emotion he couldn't quite read. He shook it off quickly and just started singing as his cue came.

Somehow, he couldn't stop glancing at the group of teenagers every now and then. There was something familiar about one of the boys, but he didn't know what it was. At some point, the boy held his gaze in what Blaine thought was a slightly challenging way. He quickly forced himself to look around the restaurant again, at the other guests, who seemed to be enjoying the performance.

Still, as they started their second song, Blaine found his eyes drifting towards the group again, and the boy was listening intently, while muttering something to the girls surrounding him every now and then. The other boy at the table was bobbing his head along with the music, and Blaine had to do a double take because, really, that hair colour? Definitely not natural.

Soon, the Warblers had performed all the songs they'd prepared for the evening, and everyone around them clapped enthusiastically. Blaine hoped that the other Warblers now realised that public performances didn't have to be bad; in fact, they could definitely help them prepare for Regionals. The change of scenery had been a good one.

The group now dissipated, and about half the Warblers were going to go somewhere else next, seeing as they did have dates tonight. The other boys stayed around for a bit, mingling with the guests if they wanted to.

"Well, hello there," a voice almost purred very close to Blaine, and the boy started, before whirling around, coming face to face with a (now unimpressed and not amused looking) girl.

"Uh, hi," Blaine replied, still in shock. "Can I… help you?"

The girl's grin grew. "Oh, definitely. What do you say, I think I know a nice and cosy motel nearby and – "

"What?" Blaine quickly took a few steps back.

Now, the girl seemed annoyed. "Look, you can either drop the hard-to-get act, it got old pretty quickly, or you can just get lost and get your sweet virginal ass out of my sight before I go all Lima Heights on you – "

Blaine could only stare at her incredulously, and after a few seconds, she scoffed, pushing him out of the way and launching herself at the next Warbler instead. Blaine just wasn't sure how Nick would respond to the sudden attention.

And now Blaine was just standing there, in the middle of the restaurant, without any idea as to what to do or where to go. As if on cue, he noticed a brown haired girl waving furiously at him. Raising his eyebrows slightly, he hesitantly made his way over. Before he reached the table, its occupants seemed to have some sort of heated discussion before quieting down as he came within hearing distance. All of a sudden, he realised that this was the group he'd been watching a lot during the performance, and the girl who'd just pretty much almost assaulted him had been here as well.

He smiled uneasily as he came to a halt next to the table, glancing at the four teens sitting around it.

"You can sit down, you know," the girl who'd waved him over told him, scooting closer to the wall and pulling the blond boy sitting next to her with her.

"O-Okay," Blaine replied cautiously. "I'm not interrupting some sort of date, right?"

"Oh, no, of course not," the same girl replied, while the other girl tried to hide her laughter behind her hand and the two boys just stared at him wordlessly. "We're not on a date, we're here to celebrate the joys of being single. Except for Santana, who's just here to find a warm body to spend the night with or whatever," she finished, gesturing towards where the girl who'd just accosted Blaine was still flirting with Nick.

"And I have a girlfriend, remember?" the blond boy spoke up. "It's kind of a long story," he added, turning towards Blaine.

"Your girlfriend is okay with you hanging out with other… girls on Valentine's Day?" Blaine asked. He didn't know much about girls, but he did know they could get very jealous.

"It's not like it matters," the same girl replied again. "She already cheated on him, so it's not like she has any say in – "

"She didn't cheat on me, okay?" the boy interrupted her, sounding exasperated. "Can't you just… go back to badgering Kurt about Finn or something? Sorry," he added as the other boy turned to him with a glare.

"Your performance was great, by the way," the other girl, who hadn't said anything so far, told him with a bright smile. "You're quite the talented bunch."

The others appeared to agree, and the short brunette said, "Not to mention you sounded great on lead vocals. How did you get the others to give you all the solos?"

If Blaine wasn't mistaken, he noticed the other three roll their eyes or facepalm at this. "They all just agreed that those songs fit my voice best," he responded, not really knowing what else to say. It was true, of course, but he wasn't sure if these people would accept that.

"No auditions?" the dark-skinned girl asked, seeming a bit shocked to hear this.

"Sometimes there are auditions," Blaine explained, "but often enough, the council decides who gets the solos without auditioning."

He noticed the boy who hadn't spoken so far – Kurt, he thought – give the brunette in front of him a significant look, but he wasn't sure why. "That doesn't sound very fair," the same girl continued.

"It's just how it goes in the Warblers," Blaine replied. "Some choirs may do it differently, but we've found that this is what works best for us."

"Or are you just saying that because you get all the solos?" the brown haired boy finally spoke up, raising an eyebrow at Blaine.

"No!" Blaine exclaimed. "It's just – that's how it's always been. If you know what everyone's voices sound like, auditions aren't always necessary, right? You can determine whose voice goes best for each song without auditions."

"But if you hear the same voice over and over again, don't you start forgetting what everyone else's singing voice is like?" the boy argued.

Blaine hesitated for a moment. That may be true, but – "I don't make the rules, alright?" he asked, perhaps a little more forceful than he was used to. "And I'm not in the council either, I don't decide who gets solos or not!"

The boy shot him an unimpressed look and resumed picking at his food.

"So tell us more about the Warblers," the brunette girl said after a couple of seconds, looking almost too interested. Nevertheless, Blaine figured it wouldn't hurt to tell them more about the group of boys that had made his life a whole lot less difficult and more pleasant.

o-o-o-o-o

The next day, Kurt was actually a bit nervous to walk around at Dalton. After all, only twelve hours prior, one of his friends from his old school, who was also one of the team captains of New Directions, had sufficiently interrogated the lead singer of the Glee club of Kurt's current school. When the Warblers had left, Rachel had told him that he really should join the Warblers now, seeing as they had nothing left to hide now anyway, since she knew everything already – which meant that Kurt didn't have to spy for them if he joined (not that he was really planning on doing that in the first place).

He was certain that, by now, the Warblers must've realised that almost the entirety of New Directions had seen their performance last night; after all, Blaine – who had, in a way Kurt had seen many Dalton boys act, introduced himself at some point, although Kurt had to admit, he'd secretly known his name already anyway – wasn't the only Warbler who'd mingled with the other people at the restaurant, and Kurt could've sworn Santana even left with one of them at some point. Surely someone must've spilled the news to them?

His fears were confirmed when he walked into the school that morning and found that there was a bit of a commotion in the main hall. There stood Blaine, a blond boy, and the guy he'd seen Santana with the night before.

And Santana. Who was currently flirting with the blond guy, who looked torn between giving in and supporting his friend.

Oh God. That guy had brought Santana to Dalton last night? Kurt was fairly sure there was a rule against having girls in the dorms after hours; maybe even at all. As he stood there, rooted to the spot, Blaine – who was standing as far away from Santana as possible while still appearing to be supporting a friend – was the first to notice him.

"Kurt?" he asked, visibly uncertain and caught off guard. "What are you doing here?"

Before he could reply, Santana turned around. A smirk appeared on her face as she walked over. "Ah, yes, of course. Kurt can give me a ride home later, right?" A bit softer, but probably still audible from where the three boys stood, she continued, "He really sucked. One of the _worst_ I've ever had – god, even that ape of a stepbrother of yours was better." Without waiting around to hear if Kurt was actually in the mood to drive her back to Lima later, she left, calling over her shoulder to text her when he was ready to go home.

Where she was off to now, Kurt didn't know.

"You know her?" the blond boy asked, looking relieved that she'd left.

"She's a… friend of mine," Kurt replied. "In a way."

"You mean you had sex with her and the next day, she didn't want to have anything to do with you?" the other boy Kurt didn't know the name of asked.

He pulled a face. "No," he replied forcefully. "She's not my type and she knows it."

"You never said you went to Dalton," Blaine remarked, most likely not even realising that he was changing the topic, if the confused look on his face was any indication.

Kurt shrugged. "You never asked."

"You two know each other too?" the blond boy asked, glancing from one to the other. "This is getting weirder and weirder every second."

"He was at Breadstix last night," Blaine informed his friend. "His friends were very interesting in the Warblers."

"Great!" the brown haired boy said, smiling a bit again. "So we've got some new fans, or what?"

"I wouldn't… put it like that, really," Kurt said hesitantly, eager to get away. "Anyway, I really need to get to class, so… I'll see you around."

"Wait, what class do you have?" Blaine asked, catching up with Kurt as he'd started walking. "Maybe we're in the same class."

As it turned out, they weren't; the other two boys, Nick and Jeff, _did_ have the same class as Kurt, though. "You know," Jeff commented as they walked to class, "I don't think I've seen you around before. Have you been here for long?"

"A couple of months now," Kurt replied.

The two boys exchanged glances before looking back at him pensively, but Kurt decided not to ask them what was wrong – it'd probably be safer not to. Luckily for Kurt, his two companions were actually seated at the other side of the classroom. When he sat down, however, Nick (who still seemed a bit shocked from being treated like that by Santana) asked, "Will you sit with us at lunch?"

Kurt frowned at him. "Why?" He knew it must sound a bit rude, but he honestly saw no reason why he'd sit with these guys – he didn't even know them.

The two boys grinned slyly at him. "Because Blaine seems to have taken a liking to you, of course!"

"Why?" Kurt repeated dryly. Why would _Blaine_, who was the lead singer of the Warblers and, admittedly, pretty nice and very good-looking as well, take a liking to Kurt? And why now? They didn't even know each other, and Kurt still wasn't sure what to think about the Warblers and the inner workings of the group.

"How are we supposed to know?" Nick asked. "Fact is, he likes you."

Jeff nodded. "We're his best friends, and we've never seen him this way."

"What way?" Kurt was still confused.

Jeff sighed. "Just sit with us at lunch, alright? I'm sure it'll work out just fine."

With that, the two boys walked to their seats. As the teacher started the lesson, Kurt was lost in thought. He could only hope that having lunch with these guys would, indeed, work out fine, and maybe give him some answers to his unanswered questions as well.

* * *

**A/N**: So, what do you think? :) Let me know, please review! :D


	29. Mattress

**A/N**: Hello! So, here's chapter 29, involving Blaine and his parents, New Directions, and a whole lot of mattresses :P This was prompted by _Lolasatsuma_; I hope it's kind of what you expected from it :)

Oh: I don't think I've ever gotten as many reviews telling me to write a sequel-ish something as I did for last chapter! There are a couple more chapters I think I'll write sequels for (mostly one-shots, though, I think), and when one (or more) of those gets posted, I'll add it to the A/N of the next chapter of this story that gets posted, so you'll know if you want to read it :)

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter, and don't forget to review at the bottom! :D

* * *

Blaine supposed it was kind of his own fault. Maybe he shouldn't have made a habit out of jumping on every flat surface he came across, but really, where was the fun in that? Jumping (and, consequently, dancing, if the possibility was there) on furniture brought just a little more joy to his, admittedly rather dull, life.

It was only too bad that his parents didn't appreciate this particular hobby of his.

His father had been more than a little annoyed when his mother had come to the conclusion that there was something wrong with Blaine's bed – more precisely, his mattress. It looked completely torn apart, and was, according to both parents, no longer appropriate for Blaine to sleep on whenever he came home during the weekends.

That's how Blaine found himself, on a slightly-too-cold-for-the-time-of-the-year day at the end of November, in front of a mattress store near Lima, Ohio. Why they couldn't have just gone to Columbus was beside him, but he found the name of the store, Mattress Land, to be very promising. Even though coming home for certain weekends didn't always appeal to him, this was a better reason to spend the weekend with his parents than many other things Blaine and his friends could've come up with.

He must've been smiling a little too happily, as his father was eyeing him out of the corner of his eye in a way that Blaine knew didn't mean much good. This was the kind of look his father gave him whenever he was happy about something his father didn't deem a suitable activity for his son, or whenever his father was somehow reminded of the fact that Blaine was, in fact, gay.

He almost bounced inside, both his parents following at a distance. When he saw the inside of the store, Blaine's hopes and expectations came true: mattresses, everywhere. Wherever he looked, there were mattresses. His whole body started tingling; so many mattresses, so little time… and so much judgement from his parents and all the other customers in this store.

Blaine bit his lip. He _really_ wanted to climb and jump all these mattresses, or at least the ones his parents considered buying. Knowing his dad, he'd buy the least jumpable mattress of them all.

"Most of these are complete beds," his mother noted, also looking around, albeit less eagerly than Blaine did.

"I'm sure we can buy a mattress without a bed as well," his father said. "Well, let's – let's look around alright?"

He grabbed Blaine's shoulder more forcefully than Blaine had expected, and steered his son around the store. Blaine grudgingly looked around, disliking this shopping trip already. He just wanted to stay here all day and then pick a mattress, but it was obvious that that wasn't going to happen.

"Where are all the salesmen anyway?" his father grunted after a while, looking around unhappily. "We could use a little help finding a good, decent mattress for a teenager who needs to be taught not to jump on every flat surface he comes across…"

At that moment, Blaine heard _it_. Music.

He turned around so swiftly that his father let go of his shoulder. "Blaine, where are you going?" his mother asked as Blaine began to walk towards the source of the music slowly. "What's wrong?"

"Don't you hear that?" he asked excitedly. "Come on, let's go see where that music comes from!"

He almost sprinted off, not looking behind him because he knew that his father's expression wouldn't be a nice one. They could reprimand him later; first, he wanted to find the music.

_There it was_. Blaine stared in awe at the big, beautiful, oh-so-jumpable mattresses. He was almost inclined to – oh, right. A bunch of kids was jumping and dancing and being athletic on the mattresses, while singing a Van Halen song Blaine vaguely recognised. He felt like his dream had come true – mattresses, everywhere, and other kids to jump and sing and have fun with, while jumping on said mattresses.

This only proved what Blaine had known, but had been forced to keep quiet, for a very long time. He wasn't the only kid his age who liked jumping on mattresses. There were more people like him.

He bounced up and down excitedly as the group in front of him appeared to have the time of their lives. He wanted so badly to join them, but he hadn't missed the mini-set that had been built in the middle of the store. They were filming something. He'd just have to ask if he could jump for a bit when they were done, or taking a break or something.

As he stood there, grinning from ear to ear, a firm hand suddenly grasped his shoulder again, and Blaine turned around swiftly, scared out of his wits. He'd completely forgotten about his parents for a moment.

"What's going on here?" his father asked, eyeing the set and the jumping kids disdainfully.

"I'm not sure, but it looks like a lot of fun!" Blaine responded, trying to stay happy and excited for a little longer before his dad would inevitably make him lose his enthusiasm.

When the song was over, there was a small applause, and Blaine joined in happily. This seemed to catch the attention of the two men who'd been watching the group too, and one of them approached Blaine and his parents.

"Can I help you with anything?" the man asked with a broad smile.

"We're looking for a mattress," Blaine's father replied bluntly.

The man laughed heartily. "Well, obviously, otherwise you'd be in the wrong store!"

Blaine's father clearly didn't appreciate this man's sense of humour. "Where can I find one of the salesmen?" he demanded. "My son's in desperate need of a new mattress… one that can survive his constant need to jump on everything he sees."

"I'll be with you in a moment," the jolly man told him. "I think we've finished filming the commercial now anyway."

"That was a commercial?" Blaine asked, completely in awe. "That's so cool! That must be one of the most wicked commercials ever!"

Blaine's father pursed his lips. "Do you really think that that's a good idea? These kids are setting a wrong example; seeing the commercial will only cause kids, and Blaine here, want to jump on everything he comes across even more! Parents in Ohio will not like this, I can guarantee you that!"

The man didn't seem to understand what the problem was and why Blaine's father was so annoyed. "But with the commercial, we're proving that our mattresses can endure just about everything, even jumping teenagers!"

"Teenagers shouldn't be jumping on mattresses," Blaine's father countered, and the man sighed.

"Look, I'll help you out in a minute, sir. I just need to wrap up this commercial."

Blaine's father scoffed angrily, storming away. Whereto, Blaine didn't know, and he didn't want to go after him and find out just yet.

True to his word, the man was back soon. "Why don't you take off your shoes and relax a bit over there?" he told Blaine, nodding towards where the other teens were still jumping and talking and singing and just lying around. "I'll help your parents find a mattress that suits their standards and your needs."

Although Blaine felt like he was being spoken to like he was some sort of toddler, he happily agreed anyway. He kicked off his shoes as he went, but came to a halt a few feet away from the group, suddenly feeling a bit awkward about just approaching them.

"Hi!" a blond girl greeted him enthusiastically from where she was jumping. "Are you coming to play with us?"

Within a second, everyone's attention was on Blaine. "If that's alright with you," he replied, now a little hesitant. All these kids knew each other already, and he knew none of them. It was like kindergarten all over again. "But – do I need to put on those pyjama's too if I am?"

"We were just wearing them for the commercial," another blond girl told him. "I think you're just fine."

Blaine grinned. "Awesome!"

He wasn't normally like this, he knew it, but something about all these mattresses made him giddier than ever. He would never live it down if his friends at Dalton somehow got word (or, worse, video footage) of this.

"Well, come on, then!" the first blond girl said. "Can you do a cartwheel?"

Having climbed onto one of the biggest mattresses on the set (also one of the biggest ones Blaine had ever seen), Blaine nodded. "I've never done one on a mattress, though," he admitted.

"At least you'll land on something soft," a guy with a Mohawk said, shrugging, before doing some intricate tricks himself. This only spurred Blaine on to try some tricks himself, which would probably result in him suffering from aching muscles for the entirety of the next week. But it was worth it.

"Imagine being able to come here whenever you want and just… jump," he said as he lay down on the mattress a while later, feeling some of the other kids still jumping around on it.

"It sure is a good workout," another boy quipped, before letting himself fall down next to Blaine.

"How did you even land this commercial?" Blaine asked curiously. "No offence, but you all look like a bunch of school kids to me."

"We _are_ a bunch of school kids," an Asian girl replied as she sat down next to the other boy. "Aren't you?"

Blaine nodded, suddenly feeling a little sleepy. He could stay here forever and be fully content. "Hmhm. I wish I could've been in that commercial, though. It looked _awesome_."

The boy and girl exchanged grins. "It _was_ awesome," the girl replied. "Hey, now, don't fall asleep! We weren't done jumping yet!"

The two stood up again, hauling Blaine back onto his feet as well. A few of their friends started singing again, and Blaine eagerly harmonised with them, jumping from one pile of mattresses to another. He was having a lot of fun here.

After running around the mattresses for a bit, Blaine climbed on top of a mattress again, this time sitting next to a boy in a wheelchair. The boy grinned at him. "Are you having fun?" he asked.

Blaine nodded a bit hesitantly now. After all, it would be pretty mean to rub it in this boy's face that jumping on mattresses was one of the best things in the world when the boy himself couldn't jump along. "Yeah, it's nice," he attempted to shrug it off. "It must suck, though, just sitting here… doesn't it?"

"It does," the boy agreed. "But I was lying on the mattress earlier while the others jumped around, which was pretty sweet as well."

Blaine glanced at the group from where he was sitting. The tall boy and the short girl who'd been singing lead (other than this boy in the wheelchair) were lying and laughing together, while one of the blond girls from earlier kept an eye on them from where she was jumping with the Asian girl and a dark-skinned girl. The guy with the Mohawk and two other boys Blaine hadn't really spoken to were trying to constantly outdo each other and were jumping and cartwheeling and doing other crazy stuff. And, lastly, the boy Blaine had talked to earlier was lying down on a mattress, giggling like mad as two girls jumped and danced up and down, trying to launch him, it seemed.

"You can go and jump along, you know," the boy in the wheelchair suddenly broke the silence that hung between the two. "After all, that's why you came here, right?"

"Yeah…," Blaine said slowly. "If you're sure you don't mind."

"It's okay," the boy assured him. "It looks like Quinn's taking a break now anyway, so I won't be entirely alone."

Blaine looked up and noticed one of the blond girls – the one who'd been staring daggers at the lead singers earlier – approaching them. He grinned widely at her before hopping off of the mattress and bouncing over to the bigger ones again.

"Hey!" he shouted happily before flopping down next to the boy who was still being launched into the air by the two girls, who, he suddenly realised, were giggling loudly as well.

"Hi!" the other three called back, before erupting into laughter once more.

Blaine tried to lie still, but with the girls jumping around them (at this point, two more girls had joined them), this was pretty hard. Before he knew what was happening, his head collided with the other boy's head, causing Blaine to sit up instantly, groaning. That _hurt_.

Before he knew it, though, he lost his balance again, even while sitting, and this time, his head landed on the other boy's chest. At first, he didn't think too much of it; he even tried to bury his face in the soft material.

Then, all of a sudden, he realised what he was doing and where he was. He wasn't in his bed, this wasn't his pillow. No – he was in a store, in a public place, trying to almost cuddle with a guy he'd met less than an hour ago and, knowing Blaine's luck, wasn't even gay (and would therefore probably not appreciate what Blaine was doing now, as most guys weren't used to showing affection for other guys), who was just wearing a pair of pyjamas he'd been given to wear for some commercial he'd just done.

Quicker than he'd thought possible, Blaine sat up again, only to find that the other boy was starting to become pretty red in the face, and the girls surrounding them had stopped jumping. In fact, they were just standing there now, looking shocked, but simultaneously trying to stifle their giggles.

"I'm so sorry," Blaine uttered, staring at the boy in fear.

"It – that's okay," the boy replied, still looking like he couldn't really believe what had just happened.

"I won't – it won't happen again, I swear," Blaine continued, slowly backing away. "I'll just – "

"Blaine!" His father was back, and he was currently looking at Blaine like he was the biggest disappointment he'd ever come across. Not like that was anything new. "Come on, son, we don't have all day!"

Blaine nodded minutely, but his father had already stalked off again. "I should go," he said quietly to the others, who'd all fallen silent. Slightly awkwardly, Blaine moved to the side of the mattress and sliding off, before putting his shoes back on. "Maybe I'll see you guys around," he added, waving at the group one last time (fortunately, they all waved back, including the boy Blaine had just tried to sleep on).

He hurried after his father, his face still burning. Hopefully he could at least have the final say in what mattress his parents were going to buy for him.

* * *

**A/N**: What do you think? :) No 'happy ending' (of sorts) this time around, but I hope you liked it anyway. I hope it wasn't too confusing, as hardly any names were mentioned (if it was, let me know, I could try to explain it, if you want to). If you have any comments/questions/thoughts on the chapter, or (potential) prompts for future chapters, don't hesitate to review! ;)


	30. Britney Brittany

**A/N**: Chapter 30! :D Ahem. I'm not too sure about this chapter. There's little Klaine interaction, but I hope you'll like it anyway :P Oh, and fun fact: chapter 31 (which wasn't planned nor prompted) was actually done before this. I didn't post it because I didn't want to go through the trouble of renaming the MS Word documents :P So I just had to finish this :P It's a combination (of sorts) of prompts by _Lolasatsuma_ (who wanted _Toxic_) and an anon who goes by _ZAP_ (who wanted Kurt to rescue Blaine when the latter got caught in the riot; I'm not sure if this is what you had in mind :P), and I hope you'll like it :)  
I don't own Britney Spears, or Facebook, or anything else you recognise and that I haven't disclaimed yet in earlier chapters :)

Hopefully you'll like the chapter, and don't forget to review at the bottom! :D

* * *

"So… again?" Blaine asked, frowning slightly. "I still don't think I completely get it."

Nick waved his hand around impatiently. "Jeff's girlfriend's cousin goes to some public school called William McKinley High, apparently. Apparently, they've got a Glee club there too, but from what I've heard, they're not very popular. As in, the entire school hates them. Anyway, rumour has it that they're performing a Britney Spears song at the homecoming assembly, and that cousin knows how much Jeff loves Britney Spears."

Oh, Blaine knew that very well, seeing as he'd been Jeff's roommate for an entire year last year. It had been… interesting.

"Don't act as if you don't love her too," Jeff, who'd been quiet for the biggest part of the conversation, accused Nick.

"Yes, we know, that's how you became friends in the first place," Blaine said, rolling his eyes. The story about the beginning of Jeff and Nick's friendship was an infamous one among the Warblers. "But what's the problem?"

"We want to go see the performance," Nick answered promptly, as if he'd been waiting for Blaine to ask this particular question.

"So go," Blaine said as neither of his friends continued speaking.

The two exchanged looks. "We want to… but we don't have a driver's licence," Nick told him, pouting.

Finally, it began to dawn on Blaine what was going on here. "Neither of you has a licence," he repeated, growing more suspicious every second.

The other two shook their heads, nearly in sync. "But _you_ do!" Jeff exclaimed happily. "You could drive us there and watch the performance with us! You like Britney too, right?"

"There are other people here who are allowed to drive and like Britney Spears," Blaine reminded them.

"Yeah, but they're not as cool as you are," Jeff said, smiling a little too brightly.

"Wes and David and Thad, for example, would give us a half hour speech on how it's not right to spy on potential competition," Nick elaborated.

"And with that, you mean you've already tried asking them," Blaine deduced. Not much was out of the question where Nick and Jeff were concerned.

"Unfortunately, yes," Jeff replied.

"And then we remembered that _you_ have a licence too!" Nick continued. "and we know how much you love us, so you can't say no! It's perfect!"

"I may be gay, but not for you," Blaine informed them, and Nick pouted again.

"But you like Britney, you just said so yourself!" Jeff protested. "And you don't really get out often enough. It's about time we got you outside the Dalton premises for a change."

"Guys," Blaine sighed, "I love your enthusiasm… and your concern, but there's a reason I'm at Dalton, remember? I don't want to go to another public school, even if it's just to visit, and bring back bad memories."

"We'll protect you," Nick said confidently, and Blaine figured that his two friends really didn't know what public school was like. Seeing as both boys were also straight (he knew many people doubted that, though), they had never experienced gay bashing either. He didn't doubt they meant well, but he feared that they wouldn't be able to stop anyone from attacking him.

"No offence, Blaine," Jeff said after a moment as Blaine didn't reply, "but you're not exactly the gayest person I know. Unless you're planning on walking around there with a sign stating your sexual preference, I don't think anyone's going to know you're gay. You should relatively safe there, don't you think?"

Blaine contemplated this for a moment. Jeff was right, he wasn't the most flamboyant guy around. The kids at his middle school had only found out when he'd confided in his so-called best friend, who subsequently told the entire school about Blaine's secret. He reckoned that, if Nick and Jeff kept quiet about it while at McKinley, he should be safe enough. If not, he was just going to hide away at Dalton forever.

"I'll come," he gave in eventually, hoping that he wouldn't regret it later. Nick and Jeff cheered happily, almost smothering Blaine as they hugged him tightly – leaving Blaine to wonder as well if these guys were really as straight as they claimed to be. "You're paying for the gas, though," he added in an afterthought. Not even this, however, could bring his friends' moods down.

o-o-o-o-o

A couple of days later, Blaine had almost forgotten about Nick and Jeff's crazy plan. Of course, that was when they struck, coming out of nowhere and ambushing Blaine as he was about to leave his room for rehearsal.

"Warblers practice is cancelled for today," Jeff informed him gravely.

Blaine frowned. "Are you sure? Wes told me just this morning to be on time for rehearsal this afternoon."

"Wes lost his gavel," Nick informed him. "He doesn't want to hold practice without it for some reason."

"He told you that?" Blaine was still not all too sure about this.

The two boys nodded. "You can ask him yourself if you don't believe us," Jeff said.

Five minutes later, Blaine sped back to his own room, having been thrown out of Wes' by the distressed gavel seeker. When he returned, Jeff and Nick were still in his room, and Jeff was on the phone, it seemed. The call ended before Blaine could ask who it was, and his friends exchanged almost manic grins.

"The assembly is today!" Jeff tod Blaine happily.

"What?" Blaine asked, completely baffled.

"The assembly at McKinley! The Britney Spears performance?" Nick reminded him. "It's in a few hours. If we hurry, we might make it to Lima just in time!"

"That's today?" Blaine asked. "Okay, well, I guess we can go… but shouldn't we put on some casual clothes first? People don't usually wear uniforms in public schools."

"We'll meet you in the parking lot in five!" Jeff told him as Nick already ran out of the room.

Five minutes? Blaine hastily opened his closet to find some clothes to wear to this assembly. He didn't have much of a choice, as he usually wore his uniform on schooldays (and sometimes even during weekends) in, but also out of, the school. Still, he managed to put some kind of outfit together that didn't make him look either homeless or too preppy, hoping that it would do.

When he arrived at the parking lot, he realised that Nick and Jeff, apparently, had even less clothes to choose from. "Do you think we'll stand out very much?" Nick asked doubtfully, glancing at their clothes.

"We're in Ohio. Most public school kids probably dress like this," Blaine replied, thinking back to his old school. Bad memories.

With both boys sitting in the back of the car, Blaine felt like he was driving a couple of toddlers around. Only after he told them to be quiet, or he'd turn around, right back to Westerville, they stopped being so loud and annoying.

It was only when they were almost in Lima when Blaine realised something. "You knew that this assembly was today, didn't you?"

"What?" Jeff asked, sounding surprised for some reason.

"This performance. You knew it was today, and you're the ones who stole that gavel from Wes because you _know_ how anal he can get about the thing, and holding meetings without it. You planned this, didn't you?"

His two friends grinned evilly now. "We've got the gavel right here," Nick replied, pulling something out of his bag. Looking closer, Blaine realised that it was, indeed, the gavel.

"We honestly thought you'd catch on much earlier," Jeff added.

Blaine shook his head. "No. Why did you have to bring that thing along? Why couldn't you just leave it in your dorm at Dalton?"

"We had a feeling that it would freak you out if we brought it," Jeff replied, shrugging. "And we were right."

Blaine had never loved his friends more.

When they arrived at the school, Jeff and Nick eyed the building in distaste. "This is what public schools look like?" Nick wondered out loud.

"Do they actually dare call this thing a school?" Jeff added, shuddering.

Rolling his eyes, Blaine locked the car up and started walking towards the school; within seconds, Nick and Jeff came running after him, declaring that he shouldn't just walk away from them. "So this is McKinley High," Nick said, looking around as they walked in.

"Home of the Titans," Jeff added. When seeing his friends' confused looks, he pointed at a poster of sorts, declaring just that. "Probably the football team."

Blaine nodded, hoping that he'd have no run-ins with any football players. They may not know he was gay, but that didn't make him any less antsy. Nick and Jeff seemed to notice this as well, as they started walked a little closer to him, each on one side.

They had walked around the school for ten minutes when a voice rang out through the intercom, alerting all the students about the assembly once more. Only a minute later, the bell rang, and the three Dalton boys were faced with hordes of public school kids who were all heading one way – and Blaine and his friends were, naturally, walking in the opposite direction.

They managed to stick together, though, and as they followed the throng of students into what looked like the gym, Blaine glanced around timidly. Yes, he was very glad he didn't go to school here.

They managed to find some empty spots not too far from the stage (which wasn't difficult, seeing as most students sat away from the stage as far as possible), and then they waited. Luckily, they didn't have to wait very long – it appeared that this school didn't want to spend (or waste?) too much time on these things. Blaine couldn't understand how so many people could dislike show choir, as he'd always thought it was a lot of fun. Maybe this group was very bad?

Well, if Blaine had understood the small Indian man's announcement, the ravioli, at any rate, must be worse.

"Looks like that guy could use some pep himself," Nick muttered, obviously not impressed by the principal's ability to lull the entire audience to sleep within minutes.

"So this group made it to Regionals last year?" Blaine wondered out loud, though quietly. If that was the case, they couldn't be as bad as he thought, right?

"They came in last," Jeff countered.

Blaine shrugged. "They probably had to compete against Vocal Adrenaline, so that doesn't say much."

The students in the gym, it seemed, needed some pep as well, as their applause wasn't exactly enthusiastic. Then again, Blaine supposed that this was pretty logical if the club was as unpopular as Jeff claimed it to be.

The curtains opened, and boys and girls dressed in black and white were revealed. Jeff snorted behind his hand before saying, "Hey, Blaine, you could've fit in with them – the guys are even wearing suspenders!"

Blaine didn't know why he'd ever let slip that he had a fairly big collection of suspenders hidden away in one of his drawers, only to be used for extra special occasions.

And, okay – what on earth had they gotten themselves into? Yes, Blaine had known beforehand that the group would perform a song (or more than one song?) by Britney Spears. He just hadn't expected… this. Somehow, it didn't seem appropriate for a high school. Still, Blaine couldn't really complain; not when there was a group of boys on stage wearing black button-downs with white suspenders, with hats placed in front of their… crotches. Blaine had to admit, the girl's singing barely registered in his mind at that point. But who was the guy in white with the tie? Blaine frowned for a moment before deciding he must be this group's director.

When the chorus began, the students in the audience grew more and more enthusiastic, even cheering for the group. Which was weird, Blaine realised, if this group was truly disliked so much.

Some students, however, were louder than the rest of them, and it was also highly annoying. Blaine glanced around to see where the shouters could be, but he didn't see them. He just wished they'd shut up.

Seeing his face, Nick nodded sadly. "They're just heightening the level of inappropriateness of this performance, aren't they?" Blaine nodded.

Jeff, in the meantime, looked thoughtful. "You both know how much I hate to sound like Wes when he's in Warblers council mode, but… how did they compete at Regionals last year? There are only eleven of them, and the older guy…"

Blaine shrugged. "Maybe some people graduated, and others joined? Competition season is still a little while away, they've got the time to find more people."

Trying to block out the excited screams of _certain_ people, Blaine concentrated on the performance again. That was not too hard, he realised, as the students on stage were manhandling their hats like they were born to do it. And, well, the inappropriate guy was right about one thing – it was immensely sexy.

Everyone went crazy when the song ended, cheering excitedly and obviously approving of the performance. Then it all went to hell – the fire alarm went off. It was too much of a coincidence for there to be an actual fire, so Blaine wasn't quite sure why everyone panicked like that.

He got up slowly and moved down to the floor steadily. Blinking, he turned to his left, to his right, and then looked behind him. Where had Nick and Jeff run off to? He tried to look through the crowd, but he couldn't find his friends anywhere. Now he was also stuck among a bunch of students who were just running around like they'd lost their minds, and thus, it was no surprise that Blaine ended up hitting the floor with a thud. Hoping that nobody would trample him, he kept his arms close to his body and squeezed his eyes shut. Maybe when he'd open them again, it would all turn out to have been a dream, because this definitely reminded him of the nightmare that had been his old school.

He didn't know how long it had been, but suddenly, someone was shaking him. "Are you okay?" a concerned voice sounded, and Blaine was brought back to the present. So it hadn't been a dream, sadly enough.

He heard more footsteps approaching him, and he shot up, bumping the back of his head into something. He winced and rubbed his head; he was bound to get an enormous headache later. But what had he –

Oh. He'd hit someone's face. "I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed, shuffling closer to the boy who was now massaging his chin with a pained look in his eyes.

"Boy, what was that for?" the girl who was standing next to the boy demanded from him.

"I'm sorry," Blaine repeated. "I just – panicked, I guess."

He noticed that the boy and girl both had been in the group that had performed, but as he looked around carefully, there was nobody else around anymore.

"Where did everybody go?" he asked. "What happened?"

"Someone pulled the fire alarm," the boy kneeling down next to him replied, still not letting go of his chin. "Everyone ran out like the mindless idiots they are, and you must've fallen. So, are you okay?"

"I suppose," Blaine replied, his voice small. "Considering the circumstances, that is. How's your chin?"

The boy shrugged. "I'll be fine."

"That was quite a reaction to a simple question," the girl commented. "What made you panic like that?"

Blaine stared down at the hand that was not rubbing his head. "Bad previous experiences with public schools, I guess."

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside, and the three of them glanced around to find its source. "Oh no," the boy muttered, his eyes widening.

Without realising what he was doing, Blaine wrapped his arms around the other boy's waist and buried his face in his right shoulder. He hadn't expected himself to be this emotionally scarred from his previous high school experiences, but this was all the proof he needed. As all the students who'd previously run out of the gym ran back in (and out, through the opposite door), Blaine was all but paralysed with fear.

When everything grew quiet around him, he dared to look up again. He hadn't been trampled, or shoved, or kicked. Nothing. He took a deep breath before letting go of the boy who was staring at him confusedly.

"Look, I have no idea what happened to you at your old school, but if it was so bad, why did you come to this assembly? Yes, it was kind of mandatory, but I'm sure they would've understood it if you couldn't come. You just should've brought a note from your parents," the boy told him, and Blaine swallowed.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. "I'm not – I don't even go to this school. My friends wanted to see your Britney Spears performance." He hesitated for a moment before adding, "And I haven't really been to public school in two years. I didn't think I'd react like this."

"Come on," the boy said, getting up from the floor. "Let's get you to the school nurse, alright? Maybe you can calm down there, and she could give you some ice for your head."

Blaine nodded slowly before standing up as well. While the boy told the girl to go back to the choir room, where (supposedly) the other members of their Glee club were as well, Blaine looked around the gym once more. Now, there were a couple of people loitering around, but Nick and Jeff were nowhere in sight.

As Blaine and the other boy walked out of the gym, the boy asked, "Did you really come here to see a Britney Spears performance? Where are you from?"

Blaine grimaced. "We go to school in Westerville. Now that you mention it, three to four hours in the car is a bit much for a two minute performance." Seeing the other boy's incredulous look, he added, "My friends are big Britney Spears fans. They're slightly crazy."

"You're kidding," the boy muttered, rubbing his chin lightly.

Luckily, the nurse had already returned to her office when they arrived, and they were both given icepacks for their heads; Blaine also got a glass of water after the other boy had explained what had happened (but not telling her everything that had gone down, for which Blaine was grateful).

When they were released again, Blaine realised that his friends must be wondering where he was by now. "I should really go," he said, surprising himself a bit. "Thanks for – helping me out."

"That's fine," the boy replied. "High school can be terrifying, especially this one." He looked around in disdain. "But there's nothing we can do about it, right?"

"Unfortunately not," Blaine said with a small smile. "Anyway, thanks again. Perhaps we'll… meet again someday."

The boy raised a challenging eyebrow. "Who knows," he responded, giving Blaine a small wave as they both turned around to go their respective ways.

Just like he'd predicted, Nick and Jeff were waiting by the car, pacing and panicking, or at least, that was how it came across from afar.

"Blaine!" Nick exclaimed loudly when they saw him coming. "Where have you been? What happened to you?"

"What happened to your _head_?" Jeff corrected him, inspecting it thoroughly; there was probably a lump forming there already.

After ushering them both into the car, Blaine tried to tell them the story as swiftly as possible. He didn't think he could concentrate both on talking to his friends and paying attention to the road. Normally he could, kind of, but the headache he'd predicted earlier was setting in, and it was not a good feeling.

All of a sudden, he realised that he didn't even know the name of the boy who'd helped him out. Drumming his fingers on the steering wheel in annoyance, he sighed. There was nothing he could do about that now, right?

When they finally arrived at Dalton, Wes was already waiting by Nick and Jeff's room, obviously having realised who the culprits were. The two boys quickly handed over the gavel before sprinting away, afraid as they were for Wes' wrath. Exchanging looks with Wes, Blaine realised that those two would not be getting any solos anytime soon.

As he lay down on his bed, Blaine suddenly realised that he _could_ find out the mystery boy's name – he was in a Glee club, after all, and Blaine knew which school he went to… Deciding that now was as good a time as ever, he stood up again and grabbed his laptop. He sat up with his back against his headboard and a pillow behind his head and started searching.

It shouldn't be this easy to find a random person you'd just met, Blaine realised with a start. Putting that thought aside to mull over at a later time, he pondered for a moment about whether it would be weird to add the boy (Kurt Hummel, according to a picture and an article about last year's Regionals competition on the school website) on Facebook or send him a message of sorts.

Deciding that yes, that would be pretty weird, Blaine stared at the boy's profile picture for a few seconds longer before closing the page and his laptop again.

* * *

**A/N**: Yeah... apparently, once I had Blaine touching Kurt when they didn't even know each other in last chapter, it was bound to come back here; stuff like that always does that. In my case, that is. I hope nothing seemed too weird here, though :)

Anyway, let me know what you thought about this, please leave a review! :D


	31. I Am Unicorn

**A/N**: So, chapter 31! As I said before, this was not prompted - it just got into my head and wouldn't go away. So I wrote it. It starts in IAU, as you can see, but it continues on in Asian F, with some allusions to future episodes, artistic freedom and sidenotes to the episodes :) Oh, and in this chapter, Blaine's a junior, like he's supposed to be on the show; in other chapters, he's mostly in Kurt's year, like everyone had always thought he was :P Also, Blaine's back story is a bit different here than it normally is; it's explained a little, but I guess it's not extremely important.

The first sequel(-ish one-shot) is up, by the way! It's called _Auditioning_, is a follow-up for chapter 5 of this story, and can be found on my page :) (also, I don't believe I've mentioned this before, but a couple of reviewers have asked for a chapter in which Kurt and Blaine meet as kids; since that doesn't really fit with the idea behind this story, I turned it into a separate story called _Throughout the years _(please excuse the lame title :P). There's only one chapter up, but there should be a couple of others up some time :) )

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to leave a review at the bottom! :D

* * *

Kurt was fairly certain that he had the part of Tony in the bag. After all, none of the other guys in Glee had auditioned or were going to audition for that role – Artie was one of the directors; Finn wanted to focus more on figuring out what to do with his life, no matter how hard Rachel was pushing him to audition; Mike had expressed an interest in the role of Riff; and Puck would probably end up playing Bernardo or one of the minor gang members – and, face it, none of the other kids in school would be interested in playing a part as iconic as Tony's. The only non-Glee members who were participating in the play, as far as Kurt was aware, were the football players, and they were only in the play because coach Beiste had forced them to. All in all, Kurt hadn't been able to stop smiling all day.

That smile was quickly wiped off of his face when he overheard the directors discussing the auditions, though. They didn't think he was masculine enough for the role? He was too delicate? What was he, a damsel in distress in a fairy tale?

He may be gay, but that didn't make him any less male. Apparently, the general population of Lima, Ohio, was too blind to see this.

And to think, he'd thought of Artie as a friend, of Ms Pillsbury as someone who'd support him and other Glee clubbers no matter if they'd thrown up on her shoes two years prior or not, and of coach Beiste as someone who could relate to him, since she was a fairly masculine woman, in a way. Clearly, he'd been mistaken.

When he noticed that Brittany and Santana were putting up the bright pink unicorn posters for his campaign no matter how opposed he was against them, that was the final straw. His good mood had gone officially down the drain.

He'd briefly contemplated dragging Rachel along for another audition for the part, this time to show that he could, in fact, be as masculine as they wanted him to be, but then he remembered that he was still the only one who'd auditioned for the part of Tony. He was the only candidate for the role, so he'd get it by default, right?

He wasn't sure if that was a very comforting thought, but it did make him feel a little better.

o-o-o-o-o

The next day, Kurt was staking out near the window of Ms Pillsbury's office again, hoping to get some sort of closure today. If not, he might have to call in reinforcements (in the form of Rachel Berry) anyway to convince the directors that he would make a great Tony.

"So we've got Mike Chang trying out for Riff, Mercedes Jones for Maria, and Santana Lopez for Anita?" Ms Pillsbury asked the other two.

There were some murmurs, and then coach Beiste spoke up. "That leaves a couple of roles empty. Who's going to be Bernardo, or officer Krupke? And I thought Chang couldn't sing, so we might also need a Riff."

"There's a new guy in my math class who seemed interested in auditioning," Artie said. "His name's Blaine Anderson, and he asked which parts were still open. He seemed enthusiastic enough. He's not in Glee club, so I don't know what his singing voice is like. Plus, he's new, so maybe it would be too much for him to be in the school musical as well."

"Have you told him he's still free to audition for whatever role he wants?" coach Beiste asked. Artie must've replied, as the football coach continued, "Good. We'll just have to get Puckerman or Hudson to take up a role as well. It's really too bad Evans left, he could've – "

What Sam could've done (or not), Kurt didn't hear. Instead, he found himself staring somewhat dazedly at a boy in the courtyard. He hadn't seen the guy around here before, that was for sure. He'd know if he had.

The boy was seated at a table, obviously alone, buried in a book. Kurt couldn't see his face, but from what he _could_ see, he knew the boy must be quite handsome with his dark hair and rather muscled body. Kurt guessed that the boy was probably around the same height as he was, which he was willing to look past…

He shook his head to himself. He shouldn't go there. Boys like this one weren't gay, or even bi. What was he thinking? That a random gay boy would transfer to McKinley all of a sudden? No; there was no way that was ever going to happen.

He crouched up, sneaking away from Ms Pillsbury's window, before standing up fully and dusting himself off. With one final glance in the mysterious boy's direction, he walked back into the school, not noticing the other boy lowering his book and staring after him in wonder as he went.

o-o-o-o-o

Curious as he was, when Kurt saw Artie clearly heading towards the auditorium the next day, he followed him as inconspicuously as he could. Deciding that the best way to stay out of sight was to view whatever was going to happen from a higher spot, Kurt made his way up to one of the small balconies.

He was almost there when he heard Artie's voice. "Blaine Anderson?"

Oh. So this was Artie's new classmate auditioning. Kurt figured he might as well stick around, see if this guy had the potential to join Glee as well. They were, after all, a couple of members short, even though Quinn had rejoined and Kurt had no doubt Santana would be back as well before long.

As he glanced at the stage, his jaw dropped. No way. He almost groaned aloud, but that would've betrayed his presence to the directors, and he wanted to avoid that, if possible. Naturally, this Blaine Anderson was none other than the guy Kurt had seen in the courtyard the day before. Even though he hadn't seen the boy's face, the hair and the body and the height all fit.

Well. Kurt didn't mind possibly having to work with this guy. His smile fell, however, as soon as Blaine opened his mouth to start singing.

He had a beautiful voice, there was no denying that. He was definitely good enough to get whatever (male) role he wanted in this play, and, if Artie wasn't going to do so, Kurt might be prepared to bribe the guy to get him to join New Directions. However, the fact that this boy's voice was so terrific, combined with the fact that he was singing a Tony song worried Kurt more than he was prepared to admit. There would be no doubt about this guy's masculinity in the directors' minds, and Kurt knew what that could mean.

Damn it. He should've gone in for a second audition when he'd had the chance.

By the time the song ended, Kurt was both impressed and annoyed. Who did this guy think he was, waltzing into the auditorium and snatching Kurt's part away? Granted, it wasn't officially Kurt's part, but it could've been if this _Blaine_ guy hadn't come along.

To his surprise, the other boy had chosen to audition for Bernardo or officer Krupke – why he'd picked a Tony song to do so was beyond Kurt, but he was happy nonetheless. When Artie asked Blaine to read for Tony, this happiness evaporated as quickly as it had come.

Shooting daggers at Artie (and the other two directors), Kurt made to leave, but then Blaine asked, "Didn't you already have someone who'd auditioned for Tony?"

"None of the roles have been given away yet," coach Beiste replied. "If you want the role of Tony, you can still audition for it."

His head buzzing, Kurt quickly walked off. He didn't want to hear how this ended. He had an inkling that he _knew_ how it was going to end, but he didn't want to accept it just yet.

He also desperately needed to sort out his feeling about the whole matter. A guy who'd only recently transferred here, was a junior, and was not even in the Glee club (yet?) could just come marching in, blow everyone out of the water with his audition, and think he could get away with stealing away the thing that could've gotten Kurt to New York? The worst thing, Kurt realised, was that, technically, he _could_. There was nothing anyone could've done to stop him, and deep down, Kurt knew that maybe this guy also wanted to get into musical theatre later, and the more experience he had, the better his chances at actually achieving that were. If there was anyone he should be mad at, he figured, it should be the directors, who'd almost seemed relieved to find that there was someone else whom they could give the part of Tony to. That didn't mean, however, that he wasn't irritated by Blaine's voice and face and general physical appearance, perfect as it all might seem.

o-o-o-o-o

Naturally, Santana re-joined the group the next day, and now, they were only one member short of being eligible for the competition again. Kurt had no doubt that someone would join Glee club before Sectionals, though; if not, they'd just have Rachel bribe Jacob Ben Israel into joining again, or something. They'd work something out.

"Where's Artie?" Mr Schuester asked, looking around the choir room questioningly.

Puck actually growled. "If they shoved him into one of those port-o-potties again, I'm going to _kill_ – "

Kurt figured he should find it very… chivalrous of Puck to stand up for Artie like that, if it wasn't for the fact that Puck had locked Artie into those foul things himself as well at some point. Puck didn't even need to finish his sentence, however, as Artie came rolling in at that exact moment, pushed by none other than –

_Oh god_. No way. There was _no way_. Kurt had significantly more trouble holding back his groan today, but luckily, there was enough noise in the room for it to go unheard. _Yes_, Kurt had briefly contemplated asking Blaine Anderson to join New Directions, but he hadn't expected the boy to actually be here now. Why he hadn't was beside him, seeing as Artie had heard him sing as well. And _yes_, Kurt might have formed a small crush on the guy, but that didn't mean that he also thought that his smile and his voice and his gelled back hair and everything else about him weren't annoying as hell too – both because Kurt was now back to crushing on yet another straight guy, and because Blaine was going after the same role as Kurt _and_ had a better chance at getting it, too.

"Hey, Mr Schue," Artie greeted their director happily. "This is Blaine, he's new here, and he's interested in joining Glee club!"

As Mr Schuester started talking, Kurt noticed a couple of other guys eyeing Blaine suspiciously, probably wondering if he had a better voice than they did and if they should feel threatened.

Did Kurt feel threatened? Not when it came to Glee, he decided. His and Blaine's voices were different enough (as he was sure the directors of _West Side Story_ had realised as well). If Kurt would be looking for a reason to send the other boy to a crack house, it would all be because of the musical.

However, as Kurt knew what it felt like to be bullied, and because he _did_ have a conscience, he knew he could never send someone to a crack house or somewhere equally dangerous. That didn't mean he had to like the guy, though.

"I'm sorry, Mr Schue, but how do we know if he even fits in with our group?" Rachel spoke up. "We don't know if he can sing, we don't want another Sugar Motta situation."

Artie grinned. "Trust me, he can sing," he told Rachel, clapping Blaine, who was standing next to him now, on the back. "He auditioned for the musical, and he's _amazing_."

Kurt instantly knew what was implied, whether either of the boys knew it or not – there was no way that he, Kurt, was going to get the part of Tony. He had always liked to think of himself as not being a sore loser, but in this case, he was. With an inaudible sigh, he slumped down in his chair, once again missing the way Blaine was looking at him curiously.

"Alright," Rachel conceded. "Then show us what you got."

Mr Schuester sat down, and Artie wheeled himself to Puck's side, fist-pumping the other boy as he got there. Blaine, in the meantime, was speaking to Brad quietly, before assuming his place in the middle of the room, looking around nervously. Kurt just looked his way blankly, trying not to stare at the boy but instead look at a spot next to him. It wasn't really working, much to his chagrin.

When the music started, Kurt was sceptic. Katy Perry, really? Then again, if Blaine could pull _this_ off successfully, after having already proven his ability to sing Broadway songs, Kurt figured that this would be a good time for the rest of the boys to start to feel threatened.

Kurt didn't listen to Katy Perry's music a lot, but this was not what he'd call an appropriate song. At all. Still, just like he'd suspected, Blaine killed the first verse, and when the chorus started, a couple of girls jumped up from their seats to dance along and back him up.

This background singing proved to be infectious, and after the chorus, everyone started chanting along to the '_T.G.I.F_'-part. Kurt just scowled at them, and, even as the entire group started dancing along, he remained firmly in his seat, glaring at nothing in particular. Why did this guy seem to have the plan to follow Kurt around and do everything Kurt did just so he wouldn't enjoy doing those things anymore? He could see that at least half the club was charmed by Blaine already, and the guys, who weren't as easily charmed, at least seemed in awe of his singing abilities.

And yes, Kurt was both charmed and in awe, but, again, that didn't mean he wasn't annoyed with the guy. The next thing he knew, Blaine would apply for a job at the garage.

Once everyone had settled down again, and it was almost unanimously decided that Blaine should join (Kurt voted neither for nor against), Mr Schuester gave one of his infamous speeches that were supposed to be motivational, but Kurt didn't feel like listening. He just stared ahead moodily, waiting for the meeting to end. He was in desperate need of a caffeine fix.

As soon as Mr Schuester told the group they could leave, Kurt grabbed his bag and almost ran out of the room, not minding the odd looks he got from his friends (and Blaine). After stopping by his locker as quickly as he could, he marched off to his car, opened it, threw his bag in the back almost carelessly, and drove away.

Finn could catch a ride with someone else if he needed to get home.

o-o-o-o-o

Fifteen minutes later found Kurt in the Lima Bean, sipping his Grande non-fat mocha and finally relaxing. He was still furious (though he wasn't so sure at whom), but he'd calmed down a bit by now. He ignored Finn calling and texting him, though, as he wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone right now.

Naturally, this plan was shot to hell when the one person Kurt _definitely_ didn't want to talk to (even if he hadn't ever spoken to the guy before) walked into the shop. Again, Kurt groaned. So the Lima Bean wasn't a safe place anymore either? Kurt was rapidly running out of places to go and avoid running into Blaine Anderson, except for his own house, but he had no doubt that the younger boy would even find his way in there somehow.

Before he could decide if he could make a run for it, or just try to remain inconspicuous or seem busy, Blaine must've spotted him. "Hey," he said, and Kurt's head shot up, not having heard him approaching at all. "You're Kurt, right?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow at him, but that didn't seem to faze Blaine. "Yes," he replied stiffly. "That's me."

He made to look back at the table again when Blaine nodded and continued speaking. "I'm Blaine. Obviously, you already knew that, since Artie introduced me, but I figured introducing myself is the polite thing to do. So – uh… can I sit down?"

Kurt gave him a hard stare, and this time, Blaine did cower under his gaze. "I don't know," he responded. "Can you?"

Blaine seemed baffled by this response, but he recovered swifter than anyone else Kurt had ever come across. "I'm sorry," he said, and Kurt frowned at him. Why on earth was this guy apologising? "May I sit down?" As if in an afterthought, he added, "Here, at this table. With you."

Though he would never admit it out loud, Kurt was impressed. "Why?" he blurted out. "Are you stalking me, or something?"

He might've imagined it, but he could've sworn that he saw a small blush creeping up the other boy's cheeks. "No," the boy exclaimed. "I'm not – why would you think that?" He sat down now anyway, still a little hesitant.

Crossing his arms and sitting up straight, Kurt glared Blaine down for a moment. Then, he smiled quasi-sweetly. "Well, first, you show up at the auditions for the school musical, no doubt snagging the part that I was _this_ close to getting; then, you show up in Glee club, wrapping everyone around your little finger in a heartbeat, and now you're having coffee at the same place as me? If that's not stalking, then what is it?"

Blaine was quiet for a moment, before replying, "It sounds like we've got the same interests. There's nothing wrong with that, right?" Looking at Kurt contemplatively, he suddenly smirked just slightly. "You were eavesdropping on the directors a couple of days ago, weren't you?" When Kurt's expression morphed into one of shock, Blaine grinned. "Don't worry, I won't tell, but it does explain why you were sitting there for so long."

"You saw me?" Kurt asked, wondering why he was asking that question when he was still not done being angry at Blaine.

Now he was positive that the boy was blushing. "Of course I did," Blaine muttered. "It's kind of hard not to notice you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kurt almost snapped, though only half-heartedly.

Blaine eyes grew wider. "I didn't mean it in a bad way! I just – you're so different from everyone else – in the best way possible – that you're hard to miss in the school hallways." He took a deep breath. "When I asked Artie who you were, he seemed surprised that there were people in school who didn't already know your name." In a small voice, he added, "He didn't tell me you were the person who'd already auditioned for Tony. I figured it'd be someone else – not that I don't think you could pull it off! I think you'd make a great Tony, actually."

"So what _did_ you mean by that?" Kurt asked. "And why would it matter if I auditioned for the part or not?"

"I meant… you're not someone who would traditionally get case as Tony. Obviously I've never heard you sing, but I'm not sure if your voice would suit most of the songs. I'm all for shaking things up a little, though, so it would be great if you got the part."

"I won't get it, though," Kurt said darkly. "After today, I don't doubt that you'll get it."

Blaine scrutinised him closely, and, to be honest, it kind of creeped Kurt out. It wasn't often that a boy, much less a boy like Blaine, looked at him like that. "You want me to give up the part," he stated quietly.

Kurt stared at him for a moment, his jaw slack. "W-What?" he asked. Even though he was upset about not getting the part, he didn't think he could ask that from Blaine. Right? He didn't know the guy very well, but that was possibly all the more reason not to ask that. He might be friends (of sorts) with Rachel now, but they weren't _completely_ alike, right?

"You want me to give up the part so you can have it," Blaine repeated, staring down at his cup of coffee. "I… really admire you, Kurt, and I think we could get along very well and become great friends if you'd just give me a chance, but I cannot do that. It's something I want too, very badly."

"I know," Kurt muttered, trying (but most likely failing) not to let his disappointment (about not getting the role, not about Blaine not giving him the part) show. They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Kurt broke it. "No one's ever said they admire me," he said, and he came very close to hitting himself in the head. He must be making quite an impression on Blaine this way. He did, after all, kind of like the boy, and the last thing he needed was sounding like a complete prick. He supposed that he could have worse people sitting down at his table. They'd undoubtedly talk about the whole musical debacle again at a later time, but Kurt was positive that they could work past it, if this conversation was any indication.

Blaine smiled slightly at him. "Then everybody else must be blind, Kurt," he said, and Kurt couldn't help but like the way his name sounded when Blaine said it. "Of course I admire you; you don't care what other people think, you just dress the way you want – very fashionably too, I might add – and there's no one quite like you in this world. You're out and proud, at least from what Artie has told me, and you're not ashamed to show it. I mean, look at me – I'm officially out, but I let a bunch of bullies chase me away from my first school and I went to a strictly anti-bullying private school instead. We just… moved here from Illinois, and my parents didn't want to send me all the way to Dalton Academy in Westerville, so I promised I'd try another public school. I'm not afraid of who I am, but I guess I'm just not comfortable with showing the real me, if that makes sense."

Kurt's mind reeled. Blaine was gay? This handsome, smart, talented, scared, haunted boy in front of him was gay? For some reason, this thought made Kurt more nervous than he figured it should.

"I get it," he answered in the end. "And I'm not trying to scare you, but there are bullies at McKinley too. The bullying's not as bad as it was for two-and-a-half years, but you are part of New Directions now as well, and I don't know what Artie's told you about it, but Glee club's not cool at McKinley. And, really, it took me a long time before I was comfortable with who I was as well. It's okay."

"I'll have to face reality at some point," Blaine muttered. Then, he frowned. "What was wrong during Glee, by the way? I know we don't really know each other and it's not my place to pry, but you didn't seem very happy for some reason."

Kurt smiled apologetically. "I was just… caught off guard by you suddenly being there," he replied. "And when Artie was gloating about how amazing you were, I guess I knew that I failed to get the part of Tony, and I was… well, angry about that." A couple of seconds passed before he added, "You did great, though. I think you're a great addition to the group."

Blaine grinned happily at him, and Kurt felt his stomach suddenly doing back flips or something. It was a weird feeling and he wasn't sure what to think of it. "Thanks, Kurt," Blaine told him earnestly. "That means a lot."

Kurt nodded, trying to clear his head. He cleared his throat, and with a small smile, he asked, "Now, what were you saying about us having the same interests?"

* * *

**A/N**: So, what do you think? :) If you've got any thoughts/questions/comments, please review! :D


	32. Acafellas

**A/N**: So... this was kind of a tricky chapter. A long time ago, _digiMist _asked for a chapter in which Kurt and Blaine met in a theatre, for example at the _Sound of Music_ sing-a-long. I see now that I didn't quite stick to the prompt of them not getting to know each other very well, as they do; in fact, perhaps they talk about too many things one wouldn't normally talk about during a first meeting. Sorry about that. But the real tricky thing is, I haven't actually seen the _Sound of Music_ (which is probably quite obvious as it's barely mentioned). I downloaded it and put it on a disk, but now my laptop's acting up and the DVD drive isn't working properly, so I only used some information I found online. So I hereby apologise if there's anything in this chapter that isn't right. Feel free to point it out to me if this is the case. Also, from what I gathered from the internet, these sing-a-long things are usually movies, so that's what this is. And I know that it's probably unlikely that the tickets are for specific seats, but I needed that to get them to meet, so please ignore that. Finally, even though I also said this last chapter: for the season 1 and 2 meetings, Kurt and Blaine are in the same year and (around) the same age unless stated otherwise. Just to be clear :)

I think that's about it :) Hopefully, you'll enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom!

* * *

After the incident with Mercedes, the brick, and Kurt's windshield earlier, Kurt had ended up having to call his father, who'd not been happy. Kurt figured it'd be safer to say it had been bullies who'd done this to his baby, although he wasn't too sure why he was defending the girl he'd thought was his friend but turned out not to be. Perhaps it was because she, unlike many others, had not automatically assumed things about him without asking if those assumptions were true.

It was mainly one assumption, though, that people liked to make – that Kurt was gay. And yes, it was true, he was actually gay. He just wasn't officially out yet. And for good reason, in a town like Lima.

So Mercedes hadn't thought of the possibility of him being gay, and had, instead, started crushing on him. Kurt had no idea how to deal with that (girls simply did _not_ crush on him as a general rule) and now his friend (as he still thought of her that way, for now at least) thought he was in love with Rachel, of all people. Rachel Berry, the girl who wore animal sweaters and was so full of herself that it was hard to be in the same room as her because her ego took up most of the space – the girl with, incidentally, two gay dads.

No, definitely not. Kurt's heart belonged to Finn Hudson, a boy who was both straight and a football player, who cheated off Brittany on tests, and was, in truth, a homophobe and a bully. Kurt sure knew how to pick them.

But the point was, Mercedes apparently _liked him_, liked him, and had destroyed Kurt's windshield when he told her that he didn't like her like that. They had planned to go to the _Sound of Music_ sing-a-long together (just as friends, but it seemed Mercedes had not understood that properly), but now, Kurt had a spare ticket. He didn't mind going to the show all alone (he'd done that for several years now) but he was kind of bummed about the fact that he'd paid for two tickets, but would only be using one. Maybe he could get a refund in the theatre, though.

Since he couldn't drive himself as his father couldn't fix a broken windshield _that_ quickly (and also because his father had actually taken the car away anyway after finding Kurt's tiaras), he had had to ask his dad to drive him to the theatre, something he was willing to do, much to Kurt's relief. He suspected that it might have something to do with his late mother's love for the musical, but he chose not to question it.

When he arrived at the movie theatre, there weren't a lot of people there yet. A couple of people stood in line for the register, and Kurt frowned. He'd forgotten for a moment about the fact that the theatre was never completely full. Either way, he figured he'd just get in line and see if there was anything they could do for him.

As he soon found out, the ticket was not refundable. Kurt was in half a mind to call Mercedes and demand that she come here anyway, but then, he remembered why she wasn't here in the first place and that she was mad at him as well, not just the other way around.

"Are you okay?" It seemed like someone had noticed the sour look on his face. Well… not just someone, Kurt noted. A rather handsome boy who seemed to be around Kurt's age. "Are they sold out?"

Trying to look a little more cheerful for this beautiful stranger's sake, Kurt replied, "No, there are still tickets. It's just that the friend I was coming with is mad at me, and her ticket was non-refundable."

He shrugged, and almost turned to walk away hen the boy said, "I could give you the money for that, if you want?"

Kurt looked back at the boy. Seriously? "You'd have to sit next to me the entire time, though."

The boy just smiled. "No offence, but I'd rather sit with you than a bunch of old people or a group of little kids."

"And you're really here for the _Sound of Music_ sing-a-long?" Kurt asked, just to make sure.

The boy nodded. "Yes, I am," he replied cheerfully. "I actually sing along every time I watch it, and it drives my friends crazy. So when they found out about this, they pretty much forced me to go."

Well. This boy was almost too good to be true. "You're a singer?" Kurt asked. "A good one, I mean? Or at least a decent one?" He didn't want his ears to suffer tonight because the person next to him couldn't hold a tune.

"I'm in my school's show choir," the boy offered. "So yeah, I suppose I sing decently enough."

"You're in a Glee club?" Kurt asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "Which one?"

"We're called the Warblers," the boy replied. "Which reminds me, my name's Blaine."

"Never heard of them," Kurt mused. "And I'm Kurt. I'm in my school's Glee club as well, but we just started less than a month ago."

Blaine chuckled at that. "So did I pass? Am I allowed to join you?"

"Oh, right, of course," Kurt said, taking out the tickets. "Have you got the money?"

"Right here," Blaine replied, handing it to him before skipping (yes, _skipping_) over to where the sing-a-long would take place. Shaking his head just a little, Kurt followed him.

When they'd found their seats, Blaine said, "I don't want to assume, but… are you gay?"

Kurt eyed him suspiciously. At least this one didn't want to assume. Still, by asking that question, he kind of _had_ assumed. "Why do you ask?"

Grinning, Blaine gestured around. "I'm not sure if there are many straight guys around our age attending a _Sound of Music_ sing-a-long willingly."

"So... are you?" Kurt asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"What?" Blaine asked. "Straight? No. Gay? Yes."

Kurt stared at him for a moment. This boy was really comfortable enough with himself to tell a complete stranger he was gay (even if he already thought Kurt might be gay too)? Why, then, was it so hard for Kurt to come out?

"Me too," he muttered, strongly fixating on the stage for a moment. "You're the first person who knows. Well, I guess everyone else knows too, but I've never told any of them. They just strongly suspect it. You're the first person I've told."

Blaine looked at him curiously. "You're not out?"

Kurt let out a mirthless chuckle. "No, I'm not. Not officially, at least, though the fact that most people already know makes me wonder if I even have to bother with coming out anymore. That's what made my friend – the one I was supposed to come here with – angry at me in the first place. She somehow didn't pick up on my obvious gayness and developed a crush on me."

"What did you tell her?" Blaine asked, clearly curious about the rest of the story.

"That I'm in love with someone else," Kurt replied automatically. He started to wonder, however, how real those feelings he had for Finn actually were. Yes, he liked the boy, but _love_? That seemed a bit too much, didn't it? Especially considering the fact that he'd first fallen for the taller boy because he'd tried to half-heartedly stop his best friend from bullying Kurt.

"Oh. Really?" Blaine didn't seem very impressed, if the stony look on his face was any indication.

"I don't know," Kurt confessed. "I'm not sure." For some reason, he felt so comforted by the idea that Blaine was just like him, another gay kid in small town Ohio, that it didn't matter that they didn't even know each other. "Before I joined Glee a few weeks ago, no one at school acknowledged me. Though, I suppose I should say there were some people who acknowledged me, but they were bullies and just threw me around and slusheed me and everything. There's one guy who was kind of nice – or rather, not so mean – and I guess I kind of like him."

"You deserve better than that, Kurt," Blaine told him quietly, his face having relaxed now. "I'm guessing this guy hasn't shown any signs that could point towards him being gay?"

Kurt shook his head. "The head cheerleader's his girlfriend."

Blaine pulled a face, which, for some reason, made Kurt laugh a little. "So either he's so far in the closet he'll never come out, or at least not until he's forty, or he's really straight."

"Unfortunately," Kurt said, glancing sideways to the empty chairs instead of Blaine. So he wasn't quite sure what his feelings towards Finn were, exactly, but it still stung to hear those words, put so bluntly by someone he hardly knew.

"Hey, it's okay." Blaine seemed to sense what Kurt thought. "I think just about every gay person, especially our age, has been there. I know I have. At my old school – the one before Dalton – there was one guy who was still nice to me, even after I came out near the end of eighth grade. We never really spoke, but he'd sometimes smile at me in passing, and he wasn't around much when the other guys bullied me. It's… natural, I guess, or at least not weird, to develop feelings for people who are kind in a time of need." He shook his head, most likely to himself. "Of course, as soon as the guy caught wind of the fact that I liked him like _that_, he started avoiding me, and he stopped smiling at me. No matter how nice those people are, they're still straight and somehow pretty homophobic when confronted with a situation like that."

Kurt eyed Blaine funnily. "How do you know all those things?" he asked. "You seem so wise, yet you can't be much older than me."

He watched as Blaine smiled self-consciously, and his eyes widened as the other boy leaned towards him and asked in a low voice, "Can you keep a secret?" Kurt nodded slightly, and Blaine continued. "I'm not. I just pretend to be wise, but I'm _really_ not."

Kurt studied him for a moment. "So it's sort of a defence mechanism?"

Nodding, Blaine replied, "I think you could call it that."

"I suppose I have some of those as well," Kurt admitted.

Blaine smiled vaguely, but didn't reply. They sat in silence for a few minutes as they watched other people pile in. "Is this a yearly event?" Blaine asked suddenly, looking back at Kurt.

"It is," Kurt confirmed. "You really didn't know about it until this year?"

Blaine hung his head in shame. "I know, I know. For a musical lover like myself, that's completely unacceptable."

"You like other musicals, too?" Kurt asked. He wasn't too sure why that was so surprising to him – after all, Blaine had already admitted to being gay, and he was here, right? Then again, the fact that Blaine didn't necessarily _look_ gay, or give off a gay vibe (Kurt wondered if his gaydar would get better once he came out).

Blaine grinned at him. "Of course I do! I want to go to New York someday and then I'm going to watch all of them on Broadway. What about you?"

It seemed like Blaine was getting better and better, and Kurt had a hard time convincing himself that this was actually happening, and Blaine was not just a figment of his imagination. "Me too!' he gushed. "I can't wait to see _Wicked_, or _Chicago_, or _West Side Story_… Perhaps I'll even try to get on Broadway myself, that would be incredible…"

Blaine was grinning widely now. "You're seriously the first person I've ever met who wants to talk about things like that with me," he told Kurt. "Are you sure you're for real?"

For a while, Kurt only stared at him. When Blaine's words truly hit him, he felt himself blush. "I was just wondering the same thing about you," he responded. Oh gosh, was he flirting with Blaine? And was Blaine flirting with him? So, were they flirting? Kurt had never flirted before, with anyone, nor had he been flirted with, to his knowledge. What was he supposed to do now?

The (almost) blinding grin Blaine sent him made him forget about those worries for a bit, and he just smiled back. He wasn't sure if Blaine did it consciously or not, but the boy sitting next to him _did_ grab his hand, and it made Kurt's heart beat pretty erratically in his chest. Before he had the time to process what was happening, the movie started, and Kurt could feel Blaine bounce up and down in his seat enthusiastically.

Feeling bold all of a sudden, he squeezed the other boy's hand lightly, earning himself a surprised look and a smile from Blaine. Kurt almost missed the beginning of the first song as he tried to make sense of the light-headedness he was feeling or the fluttering in his stomach.

Maybe he wasn't as in love with Finn as he'd previously thought.

During the first part of the movie, he realised that, when Blaine had said he was a decent singer, the boy had just been modest. Kurt was sure that Blaine could instantly become the male lead in New Directions, should he switch schools for some unfathomable reason. Kurt tried to focus on the movie, but his attention kept being diverted sideways, to Blaine. The odd thing was, he more than once caught Blaine shooting him glances too.

It made him both nervous and incredibly giddy.

When intermission came, the two boys remained seated for a bit while most other people in the audience exited the room for the time being. Before Kurt could ask, Blaine turned towards him, still beaming brightly and still holding his hand.

"This is so awesome!" he said happily. "How did I not know about this before?"

Blaine's smile was infectious, Kurt soon realised. "So I take it you're having fun?" he asked, slightly redundantly.

"Of course I am!" Blaine replied.

"You're really a great singer," Kurt offered, causing Blaine to squeeze his hand even tighter for some reason.

"Thanks, Kurt!" he said. "Though I daresay, I'm not quite as good a singer as you are." Before Kurt could tell him that Blaine shouldn't sell himself short, the other boy added, "You know what we should do? We should try to sing some of the songs together!"

Kurt cocked his head to the side, confused. "Blaine, I don't know if you noticed, but the entire _audience_ is singing the songs together."

"Yeah, I know," Blaine responded. "What I meant was, we could try to sing the songs in the second act as duets. I bet that'd sound amazing!"

Kurt wholeheartedly agreed with that. Still, he couldn't help but blush as he thought about how no one, male or female, had ever wanted to sing duets of any kind with him. "That sounds like a great idea," he said, staring down at the carpet.

As he looked up, he found Blaine staring at him with a small smile on his face, instead of his wide grin. "You're adorable, you know that?" he asked Kurt. "Especially when you blush." Needless to say, this only made Kurt's face burn brighter. Blaine regarded him pensively for another moment before sitting back in his seat and saying, "This might sound stupid, so please don't laugh. Were you named after Kurt in _Sound of Music_?"

Having calmed down a bit by now, Kurt took a deep breath before replying, "This may also sound stupid, but yeah, I was. My mother loved the musical, and the character, and when I was born all pale and small, she just had to name me Kurt. I'm not sure how my dad felt about the name, but apparently, he was whipped enough for her to get what she wanted."

Most people didn't notice, but Blaine clearly did. "Why the past tense?" he asked tentatively.

For the first time that evening, Kurt couldn't bring himself to smile. "She died eight years ago," he responded. "And don't you dare feel sorry about that; it's not your fault, and I'm fine now. Yes, it hurts to remember her, but I know – " He broke off his sentence, not wanting to continue, but Blaine must've understood what he was trying to say anyway.

"She loved you," he said. "Of course she did, Kurt."

"She would've accepted me no matter what," Kurt muttered quietly. "Oh, god, I'm sorry. I feel like I'm ruining the entire night."

"No, you're not," Blaine insisted. "She must've been a wonderful woman, Kurt. But – won't your dad accept you being gay?"

Kurt stared down at his hands. "I don't know. He's – we're nothing alike, at all. I don't know what he'd do if I came out to him." After a short silence, he asked, "How did your parents react?"

Maybe he imagined it, but he could've sworn Blaine stiffened for a second there. "They act like nothing's going on. They're not happy about it, but after last year's summer project, I think they've given up trying to change me."

"Summer project?" Kurt echoed, frightening thoughts attacking his mind.

"My dad bought an old Chevy and had me help him patch it up," Blaine replied darkly. "He might've thought that getting my hands dirty would turn me straight."

Kurt really hoped that his father would react well now. "My dad wouldn't have to try such a thing. He's – he's a mechanic. I've been helping him out in the shop for years now, and it hasn't worked so far."

Blaine nodded thoughtfully before standing up. "Come on. Let's go get something to drink before the movie continues, alright? We need to be able to sing the songs in the next act, after all…"

Kurt got up as well, and as they walked away, he wondered if Blaine even realised that they were still holding hands.

o-o-o-o-o

The second part of the movie went by much too fast for Kurt. Blaine's duets idea worked out pretty well for the two of them, and at the end of the night, both boys were sporting equally wide smiles. It was crazy, Kurt reflected, how much of an impact Blaine had already made on his life, after only having been in it for a couple of hours. Needless to say, that made it also a little scary.

Again, they stayed seated for a little longer as the other people walked out already. "So…," Kurt started. "This was fun."

He turned to Blaine just in time to catch the other boy nodding quietly. "We should do this again some time soon," Blaine suggested. "I'm sure there are plenty of other film and musical sing-a-longs, aren't there? And if there aren't, we can always just hang out, watch a movie, and sing along." Half a second later, he said, "Right, sorry about that. Um… I just assumed – never mind."

"No, you're right," Kurt told him. "We should definitely hang out some other time. We could even forego the movie and do something else."

Smiling again, Blaine tugged him out of his seat. As they walked out, he said, "Alright, then. That would be awesome. As long as we can hold hands again, whatever we do." Kurt ducked his head, but not before noticing Blaine's fond smile.

"I guess we could do that," Kurt replied. "So, do you have a phone number?"

Blaine chuckled and, after exchanging their numbers, he asked, "Where's your car? Let me walk you to it."

Trying his best not to roll his eyes at the cheesiness of _that_ idea, Kurt replied, "I've got to call my dad to come pick me up. He – uh… he took my car away after finding some… incriminating and embarrassing stuff in my room." At Blaine incredulous frown, he _did_ roll his eyes. "I'm not talking about porn, Blaine. Please, no. Just… stuff that guys usually don't have."

Blaine nodded knowingly, smirking. "And are you sure he doesn't know you're gay?" he asked teasingly. Now that he put it like that…

"He might know," Kurt replied guiltily. "I really need to tell him soon, I think."

"As long as you're ready to do it," Blaine reminded him. "I could give you a ride home, if you want? I have to get all the way back to Westerville; a couple of minutes more or less to get you home safe won't be a problem."

"Oh, no, that's fine," Kurt assured him, already whipping out his phone. "I'll just call him, it's no problem."

"Nonsense," Blaine countered, snatching Kurt's phone away before he could make the call. "Come on, my car's over here. Consider it a thank-you for your company tonight."

Kurt let himself be dragged to the car, but once they were seated, he asked, "Then how am I supposed to thank _you_ for _your_ company tonight?"

Blaine gazed at him for a moment before looking back to the front. If Kurt wasn't mistaken, there was a slight blush covering the other boy's cheeks now. "You could go out for coffee with me at some point next week," he eventually replied.

"I suppose I could do that," Kurt told him.

They spent most of the ride debating where to get their coffee, seeing as Blaine actually lived (or should Kurt say, went to school and boarded there too) quite far away. When they arrived at Kurt's house, they agreed to meet up at a small coffee shop almost right in between Lima and Westerville.

They sat in silence for minute during which they kept their eyes trained at each other. All of a sudden, Blaine seemed to catch himself and he leaned back. Only now did Kurt realise that they been slowly leaning closer to each other. Wow, talk about awkward.

After clearing his throat, he said, "Thanks for the ride. You really didn't need to do that."

"It was my pleasure," Blaine told him. "I'll text when I'm at Dalton, alright?"

Kurt nodded. He thought he might already be in bed by then, but maybe, just maybe, he was willing to stay up for a bit. "And then we'll see each other on… Thursday?"

"Definitely," Blaine replied, smiling beautifully.

Before Kurt got out of the car, he grabbed Blaine's hands – both of them this time – once more and squeezed them. Blaine didn't drive away until Kurt was at the door, waiting for his father to answer it. When he did, he looked surprised to see Kurt there.

"Weren't you going to call me when it was over?" he asked.

"I was," Kurt responded, "but I got a ride home." Seeing his dad's worried face, he elaborated slightly. "This guy... who bought Mercedes' ticket off of me, so we sat together and talked for a bit. It was nice, and then he offered to drive me home so I didn't have to call you, and you wouldn't have to come pick me up."

"A guy drove you home?" His father still sounded sceptical.

"Yes, dad," Kurt replied. "But he's harmless, I promise. He's – never mind." He couldn't very well talk about how they'd bonded over both being gay, right?

"Is there something you need to tell me, Kurt?" his father asked, managed to sound both slightly suspicious and concerned.

This would be a perfect opportunity, Kurt realised. "No, there isn't," he replied. Not now. Not tonight. But he'd absolutely tell his father very soon.

* * *

**A/N**: I think this must be one of the fluffiest chapters I've written for this story, but I could be mistaken. I hope the Blaine/Kurt/Finn thing wasn't too weird/rushed or anything :S Anyway, let me know what you thought of this chapter, please review! :D


	33. Silly love songs III

**A/N**: So, chapter 33! This was one of those chapters that turned out longer than intended, but I suppose you lot don't mind ;) This chapter isn't really taken from one prompt, but more of a combination of smaller prompts, so to say - one of them being Blaine using the guitar to back himself up after he couldn't convince the other Warblers to help him out and his fate after that; that one was requested by _SaphirePhoenix_; however, seeing as (to me) Blaine doesn't seem like the type for that and we all know Darren plays the guitar so a lot of people make Blaine do the same in their stories but I'm not a very big fan of such things (you may potentially find me very inconsistent and possibly a hypocrite after I put up the next chapter, but never mind that). Still, Blaine will be playing the guitar, he's just not really a pro at it. The other 'prompt' for this would be Kurt's first line/appearance, which was requested by _njferrell _quite a long time ago. I thought about making (and keeping) Blaine incredibly annoyed at Kurt, but I know how you people like your happy endings, so I didn't. Now it's sort of... neutral :P Furthermore, Kurt and Blaine may both seem a tad OOC, and I hope it's not off-putting or something. Kurt's behaviour may be somewhat explained in the story but I have no excuse for Blaine acting/thinking like he does. Oh well. And, lastly, I've decided that the Lima Bean is very successful and popular and is therefore located all over Ohio, if there was ever any doubt about that; and the Warblers are kind of mixed up in this, be warned.

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy the story, and please leave a review at the bottom!

* * *

Jeremiah had better be grateful.

After Blaine had failed to convince his fellow Warblers to come and sing with him at the local Gap, he had been at a loss for idea for a moment. He had been planning on serenading Jeremiah and asking him out afterwards, but when the council would not let him bring the Warblers along for the serenade, things started getting tricky. No Warblers meant no back-up, and Blaine didn't think it would do to just go to the Gap and sing a song all by himself. No one would hear or even notice him, including Jeremiah.

An entire show choir tended to be heard better than one single person.

Instead of giving up, however, Blaine had formulated a new plan. He had borrowed Jeff's old guitar, gotten some sheet music, and tried to teach himself the song in only a few days. Having never played guitar before, this was quite a challenge, but Blaine liked to think that he had it down now.

Just in time, too, as Valentine's Day was only two days away.

Blaine had refused his friends' offers to come with him anyway, for moral support or good luck wishes or consolation or anything else. They didn't want to sing with him, so they'd better stay away completely. Blaine was aware that this might sound childish, but after the Warblers collectively shot down his plan, he'd been in a sour mood around them the entire week. He knew, though, that his friends wouldn't stay away. It was very likely that they would be hanging around near the Gap the whole day, and he didn't know what exactly to think of that.

So, all in all, Jeremiah had better be grateful that Blaine was willing to go through all this trouble for him.

Of course, Blaine did it gladly, and it would all be worth it when Jeremiah would indisputably agree to go out with him and be his boyfriend. It would be worth it.

At this moment, though, Blaine felt a little silly, walking through the mall with a guitar case in his hand and a carefully prepared speech in his head. You know, just in case Jeremiah needed to be persuaded some more. Not that Blaine really counted on that, but you could never be prepared enough.

Finally, he arrived at the Gap, and he was hit by a dilemma. Where was he going to leave the guitar case? Shuffling around by the entrance of the store, Blaine tried to find a solution for this unforeseen issue.

"Hey, Blaine." All of a sudden, Jeff popped up next to him. "How'd it go?"

Blaine inwardly rolled his eyes as David and Trent arrived as well. His friends were so predictable it was almost frustrating. "I haven't gone in yet. I have no idea what to do with this thing." He gestured towards the guitar case as he said this.

"You could strap it onto your back," Jeff suggested. "Or you take out the guitar and we'll take this thing with us."

Blaine allowed himself to smile now. "Awesome, thanks, Jeff."

"So, who is the lucky guy?" David asked, peering inside the store through a window.

"Can we stay to watch?" Trent asked enthusiastically.

"Please don't," Blaine replied, taking the guitar out of the case.

"Why not?" Trent asked obliviously, while Blaine adjusted the instrument and Jeff closed the guitar case. "If we'd sang back-up for you, we would've witnessed it as well."

"But you didn't want to sing back-up," Blaine reminded him. "I have to do this alone and I'm ready and prepared. I didn't count on you being there anyway but not actually doing anything."

"We'll just go to the Lima Bean," David suggested. "So just stop by there later to drop off the guitar or take the case with you again." Thankful for that, Blaine smiled slightly. David clapped his shoulder. "Good luck, Blaine."

Jeff and Trent said similar things, and Blaine felt oddly at peace. Maybe having some people around for moral support wasn't actually such a bad idea. Hopefully, all would go well.

After he walked in, it didn't take long before he'd located Jeremiah – the older boy was folding some sweaters, and Blaine took a moment to admire him from afar. Taking a deep breath, he approached him as quietly as he could, and started playing. His nerves got in the way at first, causing him to mess up the opening notes, but a few seconds later, he got it right. There was no way back now, so he started singing, too.

After a few lines, he dared to look up, only to find that Jeremiah was no longer there. Blaine faltered for half a second, before turning around and trying to once again find the assistant manager he was trying to serenade. Careful not to bump into any of the clothing racks, Blaine hastily followed Jeremiah through the store.

Maybe it was just Blaine, but he felt like Jeremiah wasn't really into the song. Whenever Blaine looked up, Jeremiah seemed to be walking away, hardly ever looking at Blaine. And when he _did_ look, he looked like a deer caught in headlights. It wasn't the most encouraging thing to do, Blaine thought as he continued singing. It didn't occur to him at all to just stop the serenade before things got out of hand – Blaine was a performer, and if he didn't learn to play for hostile or unreceptive crowds, he was never going to get anywhere. Plus, maybe Jeremiah was just playing coy.

He didn't notice the fact that Jeremiah was moving his mouth swiftly from time to time, and he also didn't notice that, when he was halfway through the second verse, a couple of mall security guards entered the store. A large crowd had formed inside and outside, and the people seemed torn between curiosity, second hand embarrassment and feeling uncomfortable because this was a _boy_ serenading _another boy_.

So when Blaine was suddenly grabbed from behind, he panicked. He hadn't quite forgotten about the treatment he'd been given at his middle school, and also, this guitar wasn't his. Even if it was only Jeff's _old_ guitar, Blaine knew his friend would want it back safe and sound.

He was dragged out of the Gap, trying and failing to catch Jeremiah's eye. Well then. Maybe this wasn't going as well as he'd hoped beforehand.

o-o-o-o-o

After a thorough interrogation as to why he'd caused a disturbance in the middle of a store on a Saturday, of all days, and a warning to not (attempt to) enter this Gap for the next six months or there'd be consequences, Blaine was let off by the security guards. Shaken to the core, Blaine returned to the Gap anyhow, if only to hang around it (he didn't want to find out what exactly the consequences of doing that were), waiting for Jeremiah. Surprisingly, he didn't have to wait very long, as his friend (if they were still friends after this) came out of the employees exit only a few minutes after Blaine had sat down on a bench.

Standing up immediately, Blaine planned to move towards him, but Jeremiah didn't give him the chance to do so. Instead, the other boy (man?) started berating him and Blaine immediately realised what was happening.

He was being rejected. And it sucked. Sure, Jeremiah tried to break it to him somewhat nicely, but that didn't make Blaine feel much better about himself. He had been so sure that the older boy would like the performance that he hadn't thought twice about going through with it.

" – No one here knows I'm gay," Jeremiah was saying, and Blaine stared at him incredulously. He had thought that Jeremiah was out and proud, just like him. Not stuck in the closet for some reason. They had had coffee together a couple of times, what was he supposed to think? He had honestly thought that the other boy reciprocated his feelings.

At that moment, a group of teens around Blaine's age passed by and paused. The tallest of the three – the only boy – turned around and raised an eyebrow. He glanced at Jeremiah for a split second and asked, "Can I be honest?" Both Jeremiah and Blaine turned towards him and that seemed to be enough of an indication for the boy to continue. "Just with the hair? I think they do." After adding this final comment almost conspiringly, he whirled back around, linked his arms with the two girls' and flounced away.

Blaine barely heard the rest of Jeremiah's speech. Who did that guy think he was, just butting into other people's business like it was his own? How rude.

When Jeremiah left, Blaine's mind was reeling. Jeremiah didn't return his feelings. In fact, he'd even come up with a lame excuse as to why he _couldn't_, as if Blaine was a child who couldn't take care of himself. Blaine was seventeen, which was perfectly acceptable. Except, it seemed, to Jeremiah. Also, he'd apparently managed to get Jeremiah fired from the Gap, which was also kind of weird. Couldn't Jeremiah have just said that he didn't know Blaine or that, while Blaine was, apparently, gay, _he_ wasn't?

Although the feelings he had for Jeremiah weren't going to disappear all of a sudden, Blaine _did_ wonder why he'd ever thought he was in love with someone who so clearly lacked common sense and made up silly excuses left and right. Sinking back down on the bench, Blaine just stared ahead and thought.

His heart definitely didn't feel like it was breaking, so he'd probably exaggerated when he'd claimed to be in love with Jeremiah. Maybe he had said it because he'd wanted to be in love, and, perhaps more importantly, be loved back. Or because Jeremiah had been the first gay guy he'd met who seemed interested in him in a way.

It was obvious that Blaine had made it all up in his head.

A while later, Blaine finally got up from the bench, having contemplated and rationalised everything that had happened so far that day. He walked around the Gap with as much distance as possible, not looking forward to facing his friends and admitting that his plan had failed – that he was still single for Valentine's day.

Then again, so were Trent and Jeff, so he wouldn't feel like a complete idiot for not having a date.

Entering the Lima Bean (after taking a detour to walk off his embarrassment), Blaine decided that it was probably a good idea to get some coffee now – who knew, perhaps his friends wouldn't let him leave the table, or they would drag him back to Dalton as soon as he'd confessed what had happened.

Much to his surprise, his friends weren't sitting at one of their usual tables. Slightly disoriented, Blaine looked around the shop. It took him a moment, but then he found them, sitting at a larger table with… girls?

He groaned quietly. Of course, Jeff and Trent would try to get some last moment dates now. Blaine should've known that he'd gotten his hopes up earlier.

When he approached the table, his already bad mood became even worse. There, sitting opposite David (and, incidentally, next to the only free spot at the table), was the obnoxious guy from earlier. Deciding to ignore the boy for now, Blaine walked up to the free seat and placed his coffee cup on the table carefully.

"Hey, guys," he greeted them. "Sorry I kept you waiting."

"That's no problem," David assured him. Blaine could see the impatience in his friends' eyes as he handed Jeff the guitar back before sitting down. "How did it go?" David asked, and Blaine's posture slumped instantly.

"It was awful," he muttered. "He ignored me the entire time – I mean, he could've come up to me and told me he wasn't interested, right? But no, he just kept running off and let me get arrested by the security guards, who then told me I am not to go back to the Gap for six months. And I also got him fired, because his boss is, apparently, homophobic, and Jeremiah wasn't out – " He shot the guy next to him – who was listening interestedly – a glare before continuing. "Then he made up some lame excuse that he'd get arrested if we were to date, and he walked off." He sighed. "Long story short, I made a complete fool out of myself for nothing."

"I don't know if it was for nothing," the still unnamed boy next to Blaine piped up. "To me, it sounds like a great anecdote that will be told for years, or even decades, at school reunions and family get-togethers." The boy shrugged and sent him an innocent glance from behind his coffee cup as he took a swig.

"Look at it this way, Blaine," David started, and Blaine hoped that his friend's words were more comforting than the stranger's. "He wasn't interested in you, so he obviously wasn't right for you. You'll find someone else to serenade – or whatever you plan on doing – and it may not be this guy, or the next, but there'll be someone who will love you for the crazy ideas you have sometimes and who will appreciate you singing all kinds of songs to them."

That slightly helped. "But in the meantime, I'm still alone on Valentine's day," Blaine said, sulking.

"Seriously?" the stranger was clearly not impressed. "So am I, but that's really the least of my concerns. If that's the only thing you're worried about, then please, stop complaining."

Blaine didn't get angry very often, but this guy was severely pissing him off. "At least I don't have to be concerned about coming across as a sad, pitiful guy like you do. If the only thing you're good at is tearing other people down, I'd count on spending many more Valentine's days by yourself if I were you."

The boy snorted, but it sounded a bit weak. Blaine could be mistaken, though. "Tearing other people down? Hardly." He paused for a moment. "If you can't bear to hear what I'm telling you, you won't survive for long in the real world, outside your fancy private school."

The two girls sitting next to the guy exchanged looks, and one of them, a dark-skinned girl, said, "Boy, you've been spending far too much time around Santana lately."

Not exactly caring about this, Blaine asked, "How do you even know about that?" He was caught off guard, to say the least.

"Oh, please," the boy said, rolling his eyes. "You're all in uniform, and we're not stupid or anything." He narrowed his eyes a tiny bit, as if daring Blaine to challenge their intelligence. "Plus, we've all been sitting here for about half an hour, and it's not very interesting to watch your friends trying to flirt with mine, even though Tina's already got a boyfriend, so I talked to your friend David here for a bit."

That made sense, even though it was slightly painful for Blaine to admit that. "Still, you don't have to walk around, acting superior, and inviting yourself into conversations just like that," he muttered, and the boy shrugged.

"Maybe, but he did make it a bit _too_ easy," the boy countered. "I mean, have you looked at the guy's hair? Well, I guess you have, seeing as you apparently sang a song to him at his workplace, but… how could anyone think that he's straight?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Blaine said stubbornly, even though he didn't even know anything about this boy.

The two girls covered their mouths with their hands, and the boy replied, "Trust me, I've tried. It didn't work out. Now I'm completely out and proud. Something your friend doesn't seem to be."

In a clear attempt to stop them from bantering any further, the other girl – an Asian one – asked, "What song did you sing?"

"_When I get you alone_," Blaine responded. He hadn't told any of the other Warblers this either, so all six of his companions looked surprised.

"You serenaded him with a song about sex toys and pornography? No wonder he rejected you." Blaine glared at the boy next to him. Seeing this, the boy hastily elaborated. "Honestly, I think at least ninety percent of all people would've rejected you, if only for your song choice. It's not a romantic song, and it should definitely not be sung to someone you haven't been together with for at least some time. Why would you choose _that_ song? There are so many love songs in the world and you pick _that one_?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Blaine replied curtly. "Do you have any better ideas?"

"Plenty," the boy answered. "But it's not like you need them anymore."

"You _did_ at least change the pronouns in that song, didn't you, Blaine?" David asked, looking hopeful; perhaps even a little desperate.

"No, why?"

"So you called your closeted, hopefully boyfriend-to-be 'baby girl'?" the boy next to Blaine asked. "And that would be another reason for him rejecting you right there." Blaine had to admit, that sounded logical.

"Good thing you didn't manage to convince us to have the Warblers sing back-up," David said. "I don't know how Wes would've reacted if we were all dragged out of the Gap by security guards, let alone the school."

Blaine winced; he hadn't even thought about that. Yes, in hindsight, he was glad that he hadn't dragged the Warblers down with him. "So where are you from?" he asked the boy on his other side, figuring that he wouldn't get anywhere if they just kept fighting. "You go to Westerville High?"

The boy shook his head. "McKinley High, actually. In Lima."

David nodded at the three people across from him. "Mercedes, Tina and Kurt are in New Directions."

_Oh_. That was actually pretty interesting. The boy now identified as Kurt added, "I doubt we would've recognised the uniforms if we hadn't been in New Directions."

"So how are your… Regionals preparations going?" Blaine asked, trying to be as casual as possible about the matter.

Kurt, however, did not fall for that. "Like we'd tell you. Don't bother, David also tried that already but you're not getting anything from any of us."

"Rachel would have our heads," the Asian girl – Tina? – said, shivering a little.

"We won't tell you anything and we won't ask you anything either," Kurt summarised what Blaine suspected might've been a heated debate earlier.

Much to Blaine's surprise, once they got past their differences and slight frustrations, it was actually nice, talking to Kurt. They managed to keep a conversation flowing for another half hour, with David contributing to it as well.

When it was time to leave (David was supposed to meet up with the other two council members, Trent had some homework to finish, and the New Directions members had to shop some more, if Blaine understood correctly), Jeff had managed to arrange a date for Monday with Kurt's friend Mercedes. As for the rest of them, they'd see each other again at Regionals.

As he drove back to Dalton, Blaine also realised that he wasn't feeling so bad about what had happened earlier that day anymore. Perhaps Kurt was right; Valentine's day was just a holiday for people to shove their relationships into other people's faces and make those other people feel bad about not being in a relationship, or whatever he had said. Blaine would survive another lonely Valentine's day; one day, he'd find someone special to spend the holiday with. Maybe next year, maybe it would take a little longer. Until that time, he just wouldn't let Valentine's day bother him too much.

* * *

**A/N**: So, what do you think? :) I hope you liked it! Let me know if you have any thoughts/questions/comments/prompts, please review!


	34. Home II

**A/N**: Chapter 34! This one's a bit shorter than the average chapter, but I hope you'll like it anyway :) This one was prompted by _Lolasatsuma_, and I'd been wanting to write something like this for some time so yay! :)

On another note, just like Blaine is a sophomore/junior in season 1/2 chapters respectively and (still) a junior in (most?) season 3 chapters (seriously, I still can't believe they did that. I feel like Blaine's somehow older, or at least not much younger than Kurt), this weird age thing also goes for some of the (other) Warblers, particularly the season 2 council members. I always thought the council consisted of three seniors, but seeing as somehow, David and Thad appeared in _The first time_, that doesn't seem to be the case. However, in season 1 and 2 chapters, they'll just be juniors/seniors respectively because that makes much more sense to me :P Seeing as the other Warblers' ages have never really been mentioned, I'll just do whatever I please in regards to that unless someone has a specific request for some reason :P

Also, _The first time_? Loved it. I'm sure a bunch of people on the train were wondering what had me smiling (and crying, at some point) so hard :P But yeah. Feel free to rant if you feel inclined to do so ;)

Anyway, hopefully you'll like the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom of the page! :)

* * *

Blaine could kill his friends – that was, if that wouldn't be extraordinarily undapper of him, and if he could actually reach them. This, however, was made impossible by the fact that they were currently in a roller rink and Blaine couldn't skate for the life of him.

He didn't know what had possessed Nick to celebrate his (sixteenth!) birthday in a roller rink more an hour away from Westerville. Blaine had always thought that roller rinks were very uncool nowadays, but, apparently, Nick wasn't fazed by that. Still, even though it wasn't supposed to be cool, this roller rink was quite busy. Not busy in the sense that no one could skate properly anymore, but the group of Dalton boys wasn't the only group there.

That was where Blaine's problems came in. It had been years since he'd last skated, and he'd soon found out that he wasn't very good at it at all. In fact, the moment he'd stand up and put one foot in front of the other, he'd fall over. In the end, he'd accepted his fate, taken off the skates and sat down next to the rink instead. His friends came over to sit and talk with him every now and then, so it wasn't as if he was all alone and neglected.

Though, it had been a while since any of them had come over. Blaine was therefore doomed to just sit there and watch other people skate. He did a double take as he saw a boy in a wheelchair being pushed around the rink. He hadn't even thought about that possibility – now that he did, though, it seemed like the safest option to him. Safer, at least, than the skates that were still lying next to him on the bench.

When he looked a little closer, Blaine noticed that there were actually quite a lot of teenagers around. Apparently, roller rinks were more popular than he'd expected.

All of a sudden, something collided with the bench he was sitting on, and Blaine looked up, startled. "Hey, Blaine!" Jeff exclaimed happily. "How's it going?"

Blaine needed a moment to recover. Behind Jeff, there was a boy leaning awkwardly on the bench, looking between Jeff and Blaine uncomfortably. "It's not like I'm doing much," Blaine replied. "It's pretty boring, actually."

"I'll keep you company for a bit," Jeff told him. "Oh, and Kurt too!" He gestured towards the boy, who had, by now, sat down on the bench and didn't seem to know exactly _why_ he was there. "Blaine, meet Kurt. Kurt, this is our friend Blaine."

"Having trouble staying on your feet as well?" Blaine asked, feeling like it might be a redundant question, considering the boy's collision with the bench a little earlier.

"Not really," Kurt replied, and frankly, his voice quite surprised Blaine. Obviously a countertenor, he figured, even though he didn't know if the boy sang. "I can skate just fine. Standing still is what's difficult for me, apparently."

"He's great on his feet," Jeff agreed. "Then again, I don't know if we should expect anything less from a cheerleader."

Kurt's face reddened, and only now did Blaine notice that the boy was, indeed, wearing a cheerleading uniform. "You're a cheerleader?" he asked in his surprise – now _that_ was a redundant question. Jeff clearly thought so too, as he groaned out loud, hitting his face with his palm.

Kurt watched Jeff amusedly for a moment before turning to Blaine. "Obviously," he responded. "Only for about two weeks now, though."

All of a sudden, Blaine knew why Jeff had dragged this boy over. The cheerleading uniform, the high voice, the perfect hair… Jeff must've suspected Kurt was gay, like Blaine. "Still, that's… pretty cool," Blaine said.

"Jeff! You have to come see this!" Before any of them could react, Nick had already grabbed Jeff's arm and started pulling him back onto the roller rink, leaving Kurt and Blaine sitting there, baffled.

"That was the birthday boy?" Kurt asked after a moment, and Blaine frowned at him.

"How do you know about that?"

Glancing at the rink briefly, Kurt replied, "That's what Jeff told me, that you're all here for someone's birthday. Aren't you?"

"No, we are," Blaine responded. "That's why we're here. I was just surprised he told you all that."

Kurt squinted at him for a second. "You thought he just randomly grabbed me, demanded to know my name and dragged me off?" At Blaine's sheepish look, he added, "You're not that far off, honestly. Though he _did_ tell me his name, of course, and we talked for about two minutes before he told me that 'there was someone he'd like me to meet'."

"Sorry," Blaine apologised. "You really don't have to keep me company or anything, if that's what Jeff told you."

"He didn't outright tell me that," Kurt assured him. "And that's fine. My friends all seem a bit preoccupied anyway. I doubt they'll miss me."

"Who are you friends?" Blaine asked, slightly curious. He glanced around the roller rink, as if there were people skating around with huge signs above their heads indicating who they were.

Kurt moved across the bench a little, to sit in Jeff's earlier spot – at least they'd be able to hear each other a bit better – and nodded at the rink. "I think pretty much all the teenagers here apart from _your_ friends." Ah, right. That made sense. "Some of them are also on the cheerleading squad, so it's even easier to recognise _them_."

"Still, I'm sorry about Jeff. He and Nick are a little… weird, but I never thought they'd do something like this."

"It's okay," Kurt replied. "I have a fair share of strange friends as well, although I'm not sure if they'd do something like this for me."

"What brought you here anyway?" Blaine asked, attempting to make some friendly conversation. "Not… as in, to this bench, but… to the rink."

Kurt chuckled very softly for a second. "The cheerleading coach decided to take over our school's auditorium as the weather's not really good enough to have practices outside. As much as she wants her cheerleaders to toughen up, she doesn't want us to get sick, especially with Nationals in a few weeks. The director of the Glee club wasn't very happy about that because apparently, he needs the auditorium too, which is weird, because we've got a choir room. So he went looking for other places to rehearse and we ended up here." Blaine stared at him in shock. "Needless to say," Kurt finished, "we're not really getting anything done here."

"That's really the strangest plan I've ever heard," Blaine replied, and Kurt nodded in agreement. "So you're in your school's Glee club too?"

Kurt nodded happily. "Yeah, and it's a lot of fun. Most of the time, that is. Of course, we've got our fair share of drama."

"You're going to school in Lima, then?" Blaine asked, trying to sneak a glance at the cheerleading uniform without appearing as if he was ogling the boy wearing it.

"McKinley High, yeah. You're from some private school, aren't you?" Kurt asked, raising an eyebrow at him – which made Blaine wonder if he'd notice him not-ogling.

"Dalton Academy in Westerville, yes," Blaine said. "It's great. Very… safe. Most of us here are in our school's show choir as well. We're called the Warblers."

Kurt scrunched up his face in thought, but didn't seem to recognise the name. "Sorry, I haven't heard of you. Are you in the show choir competitions?"

"We are," Blaine confirmed, "but we were beaten by Vocal Adrenaline at this year's Sectionals."

Kurt nodded slowly. "We're up against them at Regionals," he said. "I'm not looking forward to it." Blaine could imagine that.

Suddenly, someone shouted, "Kurt!" At that, both boys looked up, just in time to see a couple of teens skate by, waving at them happily, including a girl in a cheerleading uniform and the boy in the wheelchair.

As Blaine looked back at Kurt, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye, and snapped his eyes back towards the rink. "Speak of the devil," he muttered, and Kurt shot him a curious look. "There's Jesse St James," Blaine said, following said boy across the rink with his eyes. "I didn't know Vocal Adrenaline members had enough time for stuff like this, or were allowed to go roller skating – I can't imagine his team will be happy if he falls and breaks something."

"He changed teams," Kurt told him. "He's in New Directions now. That's us," he clarified as Blaine just looked confused. "Most of us don't _really_ trust him, but we can't do anything about it. He's officially at our school and thus, he can officially become a member of our group."

"That seems suspicious," Blaine agreed.

Kurt sighed. "Tell me about it." Just as Blaine was about to tell Kurt that he shouldn't feel obliged to keep him company, Kurt asked, "Do you know _why_ Jeff wanted us to meet?"

Jeff hadn't told him? Well, alright. Blaine sincerely hoped that Kurt was really gay, or else this was going to be _very_ awkward. "I think Jeff thought that you're gay," he replied, carefully watching Kurt's reaction. So far, Kurt's face was guarded. "And both Jeff and Nick seem to be of the opinion that I need to hang out with other gay people, because there's a disappointingly low amount of those at Dalton, even though it's an all boys school."

Kurt remained quiet when Blaine stopped talking. "So you're… gay, as well?" he eventually asked. When Blaine nodded, Kurt continued, "I suppose it makes sense. After all, straight guys our age normally don't want to talk to me in fear of catching the gay."

"Not everyone's like that," Blaine found himself saying. "There are people who know better, honestly." Just not in public school. Blaine knew that from his own experiences, and it appeared that the situation hadn't changed at all since he'd started at Dalton.

Kurt shot him a look that clearly stated that Kurt didn't agree with that at all. "Their reasoning seems good, though. I doubt my friends would come up with something like that for me. Sorry, that's mean. They mean well."'

"We should hang out some time," Blaine decided, and Kurt agreed. That was a good thing, as only two minutes after they'd exchanged phone numbers, two girls in matching cheerleading uniforms stopped by to offhandedly tell Kurt they would be leaving soon and he should really go with them for another round.

Both girls eyed Blaine with great interest, making him feel rather uncomfortable. As Kurt caught his eye and smiled at him uncertainly, Blaine motioned for him to go. They would hang out later, after all.

Jeff and Nick – for Blaine was absolutely sure that the two had planned this whole thing together and there hadn't actually been anything Nick had wanted Jeff to see earlier – would be proud.

* * *

**A/N**: So, what do you think? If you have any comments/questions/prompts - let me know, please review!


	35. New York

**A/N**: So, how about that new episode? :) I liked it, as always; and it's a sad thing that there's no Glee next week, but my Wednesday mornings are always very stressful because I'm always trying to find a good download before I have to leave, so at least next Wednesday morning will be a little more relaxed. But that's the only good thing to come from it. Anyway, this chapter takes place after Nationals, and it's more or less a combination of prompts from an anon who goes by _hotterhatter2211_, _Random-Crap-To-The-Rescue_, and _Violethillbeautiful_. I just noticed that none of those three prompts are fully here as requested, so I hope none of you minds :)  
The next chapter's already written (and was done two days before this one :P) but, seeing as I'll be rather busy for the next few weeks, it'll be posted around this time next week. I don't think I will be able to update more than once a week for the time being, sorry.

Anyway... I think that's about it :) Hopefully you'll like the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom!

* * *

As the end of the school year drew nearer, Blaine often found himself stressing out all day about homework, upcoming tests, and Warblers rehearsals. That last thing didn't make much sense, seeing as they had been beaten at Regionals, but Wes seemed to think that next year's council would be incapable of handling, well, anything, so he was preparing everything so that nothing could possibly go wrong.

Today, however, Blaine had decided to take the afternoon (and possibly the evening) off. He'd been working hard lately, after all, and he deserved a break. And there was no better way to spend a couple of free hours than at the Lima Bean – a coffee shop that was actually rather far from Dalton, which was why Blaine didn't go there very often. The coffee they had was his favourite, though, so whenever he could, he went there.

After ordering, he walked back outside, towards the parking lot, to sit on a bench there. Just as he took a sip from his iced coffee, though, he collided with something solid. No, scratch that – with _someone_. He didn't have time to contemplate this, however, as he hit the ground and the cold liquid poured down his shirt. He thanked whatever higher being was up there that he had chosen today to get himself an iced coffee, instead of his usual medium drip.

"Oh no, oh god – I'm so sorry, are you okay?"

Opening his eyes, Blaine saw a boy of about his age leaning over him with a concerned (and guilty) look on his face.

He smiled vaguely and replied, "I'm fine. Just – try to pay attention next time, okay?"

The boy nodded frantically before saying, "Technically, so should you, but that's hardly important right now seeing as you got coffee all over your shirt."

Sitting up, Blaine inspected the damage – it didn't look pretty, but maybe he could save his shirt. Maybe.

"Come on," the boy said. "We'll go the bathroom, see if we can get that out."

Blaine sent the boy an incredulous look. "We?"

The boy's eyes widened. "I didn't mean – sorry. It's just… I'm sort of an expert at getting stains out of clothes, and it's partly my fault, so I could help, but… it's fine. I get it." He shrugged, and his expression hardened slightly. "You're afraid to catch the gay. Not that that's possible, but whatever suits you."

"Oh, no, I was just surprised," Blaine hastily said. "If you're truly that good with stains and if the offer still stands – I guess I could use some help." As he finally stood up, he added, "I know I can't catch the gay, by the way. Even if it were possible, it wouldn't matter because I'm already gay."

"Right," the boy muttered, looking surprised but seeming intent on not letting it show too much. "Well, let's – let's go in, then."

They walked back into the coffee shop, and into the bathroom, in silence. Once in there, the other boy wasted no time, grabbing some paper towels from the dispenser and something that looked like soap from his bag.

Blaine just stood there and looked on in wonder as the boy, having ushered him to the sink, set to work like a professional. He meticulously applied the soap on the stain and washed it out after a while, looking closely if he hadn't missed a spot and all the coffee really was coming out.

"Have you done this before?" Blaine blurted out before he could stop himself.

The boy made a non-committal noise. "Sort of," he eventually replied. "Though it's not usually coffee I have to wash out…"

Blaine wanted to asked what he meant by that, but there had been something in the boy's tone that made him think he wasn't very eager to share. "You can just leave it like that, you know. I'll just throw it in a washing machine as soon as I've got the chance."

The boy stood back and raised an eyebrow at him. "So you're saying that you're going to walk around with a giant wet spot on your clothes?"

Blaine squirmed slightly under his gaze. "That wasn't exactly what I meant. Could you hand me some of those paper towels?"

As he turned around, the boy gasped. Before Blaine could ask him what was wrong, the boy was already scrutinising himself in the mirror from every possible angle.

"Are you alright?" Blaine had no idea what was wrong, but he didn't doubt that there must be _something_.

"There's coffee on my bag," the boy replied almost instantly, snatching one of the paper towels from the stack before handing the rest to Blaine. While Blaine tried to dry his shirt as well as he could, he listened to the boy's slightly panicked mutters. Blaine himself hadn't noticed anything wrong with the bag, but he wasn't the most perceptive person around. He thought he heard something about it being a designer bag, and now he was officially lost. Yes, Blaine liked reading _Vogue_ and other fashion magazines, but other than that, he wasn't really up-to-date with the latest fashion. He attended a private school where everyone wore the same things, and even when they ventured out of school, like he was doing now, they never dressed very fashionably, he'd noticed during the past few years.

This boy seemed different. It was kind of endearing, the way he was freaking out over a bag, but Blaine decided not to mention it. It probably wouldn't sit well with the other boy.

"Is it okay?" he asked when he was done, and the boy looked up.

Biting his lip, he seemed to consider the question. "It will be," he answered. "At least it won't stain now, but I still need to look at it when I get home."

Blaine nodded. "Let's get out of here, then."

Again, the boy seemed to hesitate. Suddenly, he said, "I'm Kurt – by the way. Just in case you were… wondering."

Right. Blaine mentally reprimanded himself. Where were his manners? "I'm Blaine," he introduced himself in return.

Kurt nodded slowly. "Alright. You're right, we should get out of this bathroom."

Once they were back in the shop, Blaine said, "Well, Kurt, it was nice meeting you – despite the circumstances, that is – but I really need – "

Kurt interrupted him, though. "Let me at least buy you another drink," he said stubbornly. "I owe you that much."

Blaine smiled slightly. He wasn't about to turn down this almost invitation to have coffee with Kurt – on the contrary, he was glad he got the chance. Yes, he'd been planning on returning to Dalton, now that his shirt was stained, but that could wait a little longer, couldn't it?

"Sure," he therefore said, "if it makes you feel better, the least I can do is allow you to buy me a new coffee."

As they approached the cash register, the line wasn't too long, fortunately. In front of them were a boy and a girl their age, holding hands. Blaine immediately thought of how unfair it was that a boy and a girl could hold hands here, while society (in Ohio, at least) would always frown down on him if he would ever do the same thing with a boy. Like Kurt, for example.

Yeah, now was not the time for thoughts like that.

Especially since the boy in question was frowning at the two in front of them as well, seeming horribly confused about something – which, in turn, confused Blaine.

"Mercedes? Sam?" Kurt suddenly asked, and the boy and the girl jumped five feet in the air before turning around hesitantly.

"Kurt!" the boy exclaimed nervously. "Hey! That's a… surprise!"

"What are you doing here?" the girl asked him. Glancing at Blaine, she added, "And who's this?"

Kurt gave her a disbelieving look, but responded anyway. "I came here for a coffee, surprisingly. And this is Blaine – we ran into each other in the parking lot. Literally." He gestured at Blaine's outfit, and the girl winced in sympathy.

"So did we, actually," she hurriedly said, plastering a smile on her face that even Blaine, who'd just met her, could see was fake. "It was quite a coincidence."

"Right." Obviously, Kurt didn't fall for it either. Blaine frowned slightly. He could swear that he'd seen these people around before; he'd already suspected that he had when seeing Kurt, but this girl and boy looked very familiar too. Before he could comment on it, though, it was Kurt's friends' turn. Maybe Blaine would ask Kurt about it later.

As soon as the two in front of them had gotten their coffees, they all but fled from the coffee shop. "No offense, but that didn't sound very believable," Blaine commented once they were out of earshot.

Kurt shook his head. "Something's been going on between them ever since junior prom," he said, before stepping towards the register and ordering his coffee. He gestured for Blaine to order something as well (this time, he _did_ go for his usual medium drip; old habits die hard, after all) while he took out his wallet.

Blaine studied Kurt pensively while their coffees were being prepared. He hoped he wasn't coming off like some kind of creep, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd seen Kurt, and his two friends, before.

"Is there something on my face?" Kurt asked cautiously, bringing a hand up to check his face.

"No, it's – it's nothing," Blaine replied. "You just look… familiar, somehow."

Instantly, Kurt stood straighter, raising an eyebrow curiously. "Oh?"

Blaine shrugged. "I just can't think of where I've seen you before."

Kurt nodded. "Okay." A few seconds later, he added, "You know, you look kind of familiar too."

Blaine snorted. Oh. Wow. That must be a highly unattractive sound. "You're just saying that."

"That's not true!" Kurt protested, smiling slightly. "I swear, I _know_ I've seen you before, but – "

He was cut off as their orders were finished. As Blaine reached for his cup, it turned out that Kurt had tried to grab both cups. Luckily, no coffee was spilled this time around, but they _were_ holding the same cup now.

Well. This was potentially awkward. "Sorry," Kurt muttered hastily, letting go of the cup (and, consequently, of parts of Blaine's hand as well).

"That's fine," Blaine hurried to say, swiftly moving his other hand so he was holding the cup with two hands now.

He glanced up to see Kurt looking at him intently, and for some reason, that's when it hit him. He _knew_ where he'd seen this boy before.

"You were on TV!" he exclaimed, looking around to make sure that none of the other people in the shop were disturbed by him now.

"What?" Kurt seemed confused, and Blaine quickly pulled him towards an empty table.

"You were on TV!" he repeated. "You were at Nationals in New York! My friends made me watch that last weekend."

"Really?" Kurt sounded amazed. "They broadcast that on television?"

Blaine nodded eagerly. "Yes, apparently. Your two lead singers kissed on stage."

Kurt groaned. "Don't remind me. None of us knew what was happening, we were only told afterwards. We all wondered why no one was clapping, but that mystery was solved soon enough."

"That sucks," Blaine said. "My friends were pretty pissed about that, actually. They agreed that if you were going to screw up your chances at Nationals like that, _we_ should've gone on to New York."

"_You_ should've – " Kurt started, and then realisation seemed to dawn on him. To be honest, Blaine didn't know why he did recognise Kurt from the few seconds he'd been at centre stage on TV, but not from the two competitions that had come before that. "You're in the Warblers. I knew I remembered you!"

Blaine grinned. "Yes, I am, and we're going to do absolutely everything in our power to make sure _we_ win next year's Sectionals, or Regionals, whenever we're up against you. There's no way we're letting you blow another chance like that."

Kurt didn't seem impressed, much rather amused. "Trust me, we won't. Finn and Rachel have been appropriately dealt with – one of the girls went crazy when we got back to the hotel, all but attacking them, and the rest of us pretty much gave them the cold shoulder for the remainder of the trip. And we still came in twelfth. After what happened, I feared we might be disqualified or become fiftieth or something."

"Well, your songs and overall performance was fairly good," Blaine admitted.

"Yeah, that's the other reason why it surprised me we were actually so close to the top ten," Kurt said. "We… wrote those songs the day before the competition, and only started rehearsing after that."

Blaine couldn't help but stare. It was like the other Glee club was mocking the Warblers and everything they did. "You do realise that I'm telling this to the council as soon as I get back at Dalton, right?" he asked. "This'll make everyone want to beat you even more next year."

Kurt cocked his head to the side. "Council?"

Blaine nodded. "The Warblers don't have a choir director. Instead, we have a council, consisting of three seniors who lead the meetings and make the song selections and such."

Kurt looked thoughtful. "We should have one of those, too. I mean, nothing against Mr Schuester, but he always gives every song to the same people. At least if some of us decided all those things, other people might have a shot at singing something as well. No one in their right mind would vote Rachel into that hypothetical council anyway."

"You don't even seem that upset about losing," Blaine observed, finding it slightly odd; when the Warblers had lost at Regionals, he'd blamed himself for the loss for days, and it had taken a lot for his friends to make him accept that it had been a team effort, and New Directions had simply been better.

"It was still amazing," Kurt replied, smiling. "It was New York, Blaine. _New York_."

"I'd gathered that much," Blaine deadpanned. "It was only my dream to go there, no biggie."

Kurt grinned widely now. "Really? You mean that? It was my dream as well and now I know for sure that I want to go there after I graduate. Only one year left in this sad excuse for a town and then I'm off."

Blaine nodded in agreement. "Exactly what I was thinking too. I'm simply not cut out for the Ohio life."

He swore that Kurt was almost bouncing in his seat from the excitement. "Me neither. Hey, you know what? Perhaps you could come to my house some time so I could show you some pictures my friends and I made there! I've got heaps of stories to tell, and all my friends were there so they won't listen, and my parents mean well, but they don't quite share the excitement I feel every time I look at those photos."

"That sounds great!" Blaine replied before he could even consider what he was agreeing to – he was being invited to the house of a boy he'd met only today, to talk about college and New York and dreams that were far bigger than Ohio.

After making plans for the next weekend (when both boys were done with their exams), they continued talking about… well, everything they could think of. Still, as they each went their own way after finishing their drinks, Blaine was convinced that they'd have more than enough to talk about when they would meet up again.

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**A/N**: So, what do you think? :D If you have any comments/questions/prompts, let me know, please review! :)


	36. The first time

**A/N**: This is one of those chapters that just kind of happened - this shouldn't be posted now in terms of when it was prompted :P But I was inspired and wrote this in one night, so here you go :) It was prompted by _Bethany Autumn_, _flamealchemist15_, _onetwoone_, and _perchance to wake_ (it got pretty popular pretty fast, as you can see :P), and I hope you'll enjoy this :) I hope the characters aren't (too) OOC (I've never properly written half of the characters in here and I'm never sure about the others, too) and I hope it all makes some sense (it kind of did to me, so if you have any questions or anything, don't hesitate to ask them!).

Oh - just like many other chapters, Kurt never transferred to Dalton, but most of the other season 2 stuff still happened. So basically, the characters at the same point here (apart from Blaine being around, of course) as they actually were on the show. And without any competition, Kurt did get the part of Tony in _West Side Story_ ;) Also, please excuse my occasional line stealing from the show. I don't own the lines you recognise; it was just too good a chance to pass up.

Hopefully you'll like the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom! :D

* * *

"You want to _what_?" Kurt was completely baffled. He couldn't believe his ears and he was pretty sure his mouth was hanging wide open.

"Come on, man, it'll be fun. Just me and you and a whole bunch of other gay dudes, just for you."

"Wait." Kurt shook his head once and massaged his temples before assuming his shocked stance again. "_You_ want to go out. With _me_. To a _gay bar_." A deep breath. "First of all, you're straight. Second of all, two years ago, you tossed me in dumpsters for being gay. Third of all, we can't just _walk into a gay bar_! We're not old enough for that! And – _tonight_? It's a school night, and tomorrow's the opening night for _West Side Story_! We can't be on stage, _drunk_. I have the main male part, for god's sake!"

"Are you done?" Kurt just kept eyeing the boy in front of him disbelievingly. "Good," Puck said. "I was starting to think your voice would get higher and higher until only dogs could hear it." When Kurt didn't say anything, Puck continued. "As I was saying, there's a gay bar here in Lima and you and I are going there tonight. It's about time you let loose a little and what's a better time for that than now? Don't think I didn't hear about Artie telling you and Rachel to hook up with someone before opening night. Besides," he added in a quieter voice, "the bullying isn't as bad as it was last year, but you still don't look happy. And that's not right. So what's a better place for you to find someone to hook up with or whatever it is gay guys do than a gay bar?"

"Why do you even care about that?" Kurt asked, closing his locker and leaning against it instead, his arms crossed over his chest.

"You're my boy, Kurt." At this, Kurt just raised an eyebrow. "I'm totally cool with the gay thing now, you know that." Oh, yes, he knew. Kurt was well aware of that after Puck, Sam, Mike and, after some hesitance, Finn, had agreed to form some sort of protection unit around him the previous year when the bullying had escalated. Puck had called him 'his boy' on more than one occasion during _that_ particular project. "And I'm totally comfortable with my sexuality as well so I'm cool with going to that bar with you. You should just… have a good time for once."

Kurt huffed. "I'm perfectly capable of having a good time, Puck, thank you very much. I appreciate the offer, but I really don't think – "

"It's just once," Puck said stubbornly. "It'd be good for you to know you're not the only gay person in Lima."

"I could just attend a PFFLAG meeting for that," Kurt pointed out.

Puck just stared at him for a moment, most likely not understanding was Kurt was talking about, before saying, "Yeah, whatever. Make sure you're ready by nine, I'll pick you up at your house."

Before Kurt could say anything else, Puck had already walked off, and Kurt leant his head against the lockers as well. He was sure that the other boy would ignore any phone call or message from Kurt, so he'd have to try to dissuade him when he arrived at Kurt's.

Yes, he knew that Puck was trying to be nicer now, but he'd never expected to be dragged to a _gay bar_ (he hadn't even known those existed in Lima, or the entirety of Ohio, at that) by his very straight friend (or whatever Puck was) on a school night.

What had he gotten himself into now?

o-o-o-o-o

As promised, Puck showed up only a little after 9 o'clock. Kurt had reluctantly gotten ready, even though he was still very determined to get it through Puck's head that he didn't want to go, and that Puck shouldn't want to go either.

His earlier plan to just not open the door kind of flew out of the window when Finn turned out to be home after all and opened the door. Kurt sighed; if he'd known that his stepbrother was still home, he would've told Finn what was going on and forced him to keep the door closed and locked all night.

Kurt heard Finn asked Puck confusedly if they had some sort of videogame marathon that night, and he stopped dead at the top of the stairs, his face paling.

What was Puck going to tell Finn? Surely not the truth, right? Finn would get wildly uncomfortable (and so would Kurt, actually) and would, most likely, tell their parents, and Kurt would be grounded until the end of the school year at least.

"No," Puck responded, sounding perfectly at ease. Kurt just couldn't get his head around the fact that Puck, who was straighter than straight, seemed so much more comfortable with the idea of visiting a gay bar than Kurt himself was, even though _he_ was actually gay. "I'm here to pick up Kurt."

"Kurt?" Finn sounded thoroughly confused. "What – "

"I'm taking him to _Scandals_," Puck said, and Kurt rolled his eyes at the cliché of a name.

"To what?" Finn appeared to be becoming kind of uncomfortable now.

"It's Lima's gay bar," Puck replied. "I figured he could use some… guy loving right before he's forced to act like he's getting it on with Rachel a few nights in a row. Hey, how did – "

"A gay bar? Oh, no. Definitely not. Mom and Burt will freak if they hear." Good. Kurt really didn't want to go and Finn was actually helping him out for once.

"They don't have to find out," Puck argued. "Or were you going to tell on him?" Finn must've answered, because the next thing Puck said really caught Kurt off guard. "Why don't you go with us then? You can help protect Kurt and you have less of a reason to rat him out."

Finn at a gay bar? Kurt almost snorted at the thought. And judging from the spluttering he heard, it was safe to say Finn felt the same way.

"Rachel probably wouldn't mind," Puck egged him on. Kurt realised that he might have a point there – Rachel, after all, had two gay dads and would probably love Finn even more if it seemed like he was so readily and comfortably embracing his stepbrother's sexuality.

Kurt sighed; it didn't sound like Puck was going to give up. He trudged down the stairs now and faced the two boys hanging around by the front door with a frown. "I really don't see why you're so adamant in dragging me to a gay bar, Puck," he commented. "Besides, it's not like they'll let us in, we're not old enough for that!"

"They'll believe I'm old enough," Puck replied. "I've done it a thousand times. And I've got some fake IDs in case either of you is carded."

"_Either_ of us?" Finn asked, backing away from the door. "No way, dude. That's not cool. I'm not going!"

"Oh, come on, dude. It's just a bar, only with a lot of gays in it."

Kurt didn't know how Puck had done it, but ten minutes later, all three of them were climbing into Puck's car, Finn still not seeming very happy, but Puck looking a little too pleased with himself.

Kurt glanced out of the window, not really paying attention to where they were going. Yes, Puck was right about the fact that Kurt sort of deserved a carefree night out (if he could really be carefree with potential predators out there and two of his friends either breathing down his neck the entire time or getting completely and utterly wasted), but this wasn't quite what he had in mind for that.

o-o-o-o-o

Kurt hastily got out of the car and jogged after his two friends to catch up with them. Puck handed both him and Finn their fake IDs, and Kurt squinted at his.

"Chazz Donaldsworth?" he asked, unimpressed. "This doesn't even look like me."

"Mine says I'm thirty-eight," Finn said, baffled. "Dude, where'd you even get these?"

"That's really none of your concern," Puck replied, and Kurt figured that, for once, Puck was right – they were better off not knowing where he got these things.

Instead, he glanced at the bar they were approaching. "This is the gay bar you were so excited to go to?" he asked, pulling a face. "It's…"

"Cosy," Puck supplied, grinning widely. "Believe me, for a bar in Lima, this is great quality."

Kurt and Finn exchanged dubious glances, but didn't speak up. Once again, Kurt didn't want to know how Puck had gathered that knowledge.

The inside of the club was definitely not cosy, as far as Kurt was concerned. Then again, he'd never been in a bar before, so he hadn't been sure what to expect beforehand. It was rather dark and, dare he say it, not very crowded – which, now that he thought about it, was probably a good thing.

He handed his fake ID to the bouncer and added a fake-cheerful 'aloha' when the guy looked up again. This was a stupid idea, of course it was, he should've known. It was Puck's idea after all and, no matter how many positive things could be said about the guy, good plans weren't his forte. Now they were going to be thrown out or taken to the police and his dad –

"Enjoy," the bouncer said, snapping Kurt out of his thoughts. Apparently, he'd already checked Finn's (and Puck's?) fake IDs, or he'd believed those guys were old enough (which had the potential of being kind of offensive, Kurt mused. _He_ was the oldest of the three, after all). "It's drag queen Wednesday."

"Great!" Finn said from behind him, and if Kurt wasn't mistaken, his stepbrother's voice was higher than it usually was. He felt kind of bad for Finn, but he'd really thought, almost known for sure, that Finn was out of the house tonight and, thus, safe.

He hesitantly walked further inside, glancing around. "I was right," Puck started, "it's really just like any other bar in Lima! Apart from the fact that we're the only guys here who like boobs, Finny boy."

Finn scowled at his best friend, but didn't comment on what he said. "It's not very scandalous," he said instead, sounding very uneasy.

Certain that he himself didn't fare much better, Kurt made a comment about the drag queens present, which Finn didn't seem to completely understand. Oh well – Kurt reckoned he'd find out soon enough that the drag queens weren't actually female.

They made their way over to the bar, and Puck had ordered them all beers before Finn or Kurt could get a word in. "Shouldn't one of us be the designated driver?" Finn asked.

"I'll do it," Kurt said quickly. He didn't feel like drinking anyway, even if that was probably why Puck had dragged him here in the first place. Now, however, his friend didn't seem to mind very much.

Only when Puck ordered something (hopefully) non-alcoholic for Kurt did he realise that he might have to somehow manoeuvre both these guys – taller than him, probably pretty heavy, and later also under the influence of alcohol – back to Puck's car. Well; he'd deal with that later.

Puck seemed to be very happy with getting as drunk as he possibly could, and once Finn had loosened up a little, of course he couldn't stay far behind. As Kurt was delicately sipping his second drink, Puck seemed to remember why they'd come here – for Kurt to hook up or something similar to that (not that Kurt was planning to do so).

"Come on, Kurtie," Puck whined, and Kurt quickly took a step back lest Puck tried to lean on his shoulder. "You gotta at least talk to some dudes here! Maybe – maybe they'll like you too!"

Finn looked like he'd spaced out entirely, but he was nodding nonetheless. So much for protecting Kurt from the big, scary, most likely predatory guys here.

Deciding not to fight it (it wouldn't help anyway), Kurt got up from his seat reluctantly. Glancing around, his eyes landed on a burly figure not too far away.

No way.

He heard Puck whistling shamelessly from behind him and he threw his friend a foul look. "Go get some, Kurtsie!" Puck shouted, and Finn grinned toothily at him, giving him a thumbs-up.

Sighing to himself and shaking his head, Kurt weaved through the crowd. Looking over his shoulder to see if Puck and Finn were still watching him, he saw to his relief that they'd gone back to drinking some more beer.

"Hey," he said, still not entirely sure if this was a smart move, but there was no way back now. Besides, with all these guys around, he wouldn't start a fight, right? Especially considering they'd parted on friendly terms before summer.

Dave Karofsky whirled around in his seat and looked at Kurt in shock. "Hi," he said.

Still a little apprehensive about seeing his former bully again, Kurt sat down gingerly in the free seat next to Karofsky. They made some small talk, and Kurt was glad that the guy seemed to be doing so much better now.

"What brings you here anyway?" Karofsky asked at some point. "Doesn't seem like the type of place you'd come willingly."

Oh, right. Kurt's eyes widened slightly. "It wasn't my idea," he said, realising what was wrong here. "You should – you should go." At the other boy's surprised look, he shook his head. "It was… Puck's idea, okay? He's over there somewhere, getting drunk with Finn."

"You brought Puckerman and Hudson to a gay bar?" For some reason Kurt couldn't quite fathom, Karofsky actually sounded amused.

"No," he corrected him swiftly, but sternly, "_Puck_ brought Finn and me here. Something about me needing a night out."

Karofsky seemed somewhat impressed. "Imagine if the team would find out. They've definitely come a long way if they're here with you, willingly."

Sending Karofsky a reprimanding glare until he relented, Kurt said, "So have you, you know."

Karofsky nodded briskly. "Yeah. I guess I should make sure they don't notice me here, right?"

And he was gone. Kurt was almost certain that he hadn't left the bar, but he figured that staying out of Puck and Finn's sight would be a good thing for Karofsky to do – who knew what those boys would do in their drunk hazes.

As he made his way back to where Puck and Finn had been sitting, he immediately noticed that his stepbrother was oddly absent from the bar. "Where's Finn?" he asked, sitting down again.

Puck, his attention more on his bottle of beer than anything else, just waved vaguely at the dance floor. Fearing the worst, Kurt turned around.

"Oh, god," he muttered, taking in the sight in front of him. "You're kidding me."

As expected, Finn was on the dance floor, dancing happily and drunkenly with one of the drag queens. Kurt just hoped, for his stepbrother's sake, that Rachel would never find out about this.

Puck soon handed him another drink, and Kurt sniffed it first to make sure there was no alcohol in it. It wasn't necessarily that he didn't trust Puck, but his friend was drunk. Who knew what he'd ordered for Kurt.

He kept his eyes on the dance floor to make sure nothing was happening to Finn. He had zero experience with drag queens, so he didn't know what to expect. He _did_ know, however, that Finn would be horrified to find out that the person he'd danced with half the night was actually a guy.

Suddenly, a guy who actually seemed to be around their own age dropped down in the seat next to Puck. "Another beer, please," he called out to the bartender. Puck and Kurt both turned to look at him, and Kurt's first thought was that this guy was actually quite… hot. Plus, they were in a gay bar, so the guy was probably gay. Looking back at them, the boy grinned – quite cockily, Kurt noted. "What are you two doing here?"

As Puck smiled sloppily (given the fact that, according to the boy himself, he had quite some experience with bars and alcohol, he must've had a _lot_ to drink, Kurt mused), the new guy openly leered at him, a smirk plastered to his face. Alright. Yes, the guy was hot, but he also gave off a vibe that Kurt wasn't very comfortable with. "Takin' out my boy Kurt here," Puck told the guy, clapping Kurt on the back. "Needs to… loosen up a bit."

The boy's eyes shifted from Puck to Kurt, who met his gaze steadily. "Your boy Kurt?" the guy asked amusedly.

Puck nodded. "Yeah, he's – he's my friend, and I'm not lettin' anyone pick on him 'nymore."

"Your friend, huh?" The guy looked very happy with that for some reason, and Kurt immediately liked him a lot less.

"Yes," he said. "Hi, I'm Kurt. This is my friend, Puck. And you are?"

The boy took his outstretched hand with a smirk. "Sebastian Smythe."

Kurt just tried to glare him down. "Pleasure." When the other boy didn't reply, Kurt chanced a glance at Puck (who was sipping his beer absent-mindedly) and Finn (who was still dancing outrageously with the drag queen). "And what brings you to this… bar?" he asked.

Sebastian took a large swig from his drink. "I was trying to… seduce this guy, you know? He's hot, I'm hot, so I brought him here. Turns out that he's got this shitload of emotional baggage and wants a – a relationship or something." He rolled his eyes. "I can't deal with that." Another swig of beer. "Tried to get him drunk, but that didn't make him anymore willing. So I ditched him, no idea where he is now." Seriously? Was this guy for real? Kurt raised an eyebrow at him, but instead of looking guilty, Sebastian just carried on talking. "I thought he was more fun, you know? More like me, but hiding it underneath his whole… bashful school boy exterior." He snorted. "But no, he's really that innocent. And I have nothing – nothing against innocence. Heck, it's very attractive, but this guy… he takes it too far, you know? He wants – a relationship!" He burst out laughing like it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard.

So, this must be the kind of guy his father had warned him about. Even without the warning, though, Kurt didn't think he'd ever have gone for a guy like this.

"It's not even that funny," a person to Kurt's other side muttered, and Kurt turned his head just in time to notice a dark haired boy (also his age) sag down in the seat next to him.

"You know that guy?" Kurt asked curiously, and the boy nodded.

"He's my ride here," he groaned. "And I really don't – don't like him anymore."

Kurt, too, groaned, though he tried to keep it down. "Are you drunk?" he asked. Yes, he'd known before he came here that a lot of the people here would be drinking and getting wasted. He'd not expected that his former bully, of all people, would be the most sober person he'd be talking to tonight.

"Only a little," the boy replied. "I think Sebastian thought I'd want to meaninglessly hook up with him if he got me drunk enough."

Ah, right. This must be the boy that Sebastian fellow had been talking about, then. Kurt studied him for a moment. Bashful school boy exterior… check. Innocence… check. Emotional baggage… undetermined as of yet.

As the boy sulked in his seat while drinking his newly ordered non-alcoholic drink, Kurt glanced at Puck again. His friend was laughing outrageously with Sebastian, and if Kurt wasn't mistaken (he didn't have a lot of experience in the department), Sebastian was _flirting _with Puck.

Which was odd, Kurt thought, as Puck was about as far from the whole bashful school boy thing Sebastian seemed to dig as was humanly possible.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he finally replied to what he'd just remembered the boy next to him had said. "He doesn't seem very likeable."

The boy shook his head miserably. "He isn't. I should've known better than to come here. I didn't want to at first, but for some reason, he persuaded me anyway."

"You can always just leave him here," Kurt suggested.

The boy looked at him with wide eyes. "No, I can't do that! He's… a teammate, at the very least, and leaving him here would be…"

He seemed lost for words, but Kurt nodded. "Okay, I got it. You could call one of your friends to pick you up if you don't want to drive home with him?"

"We're from Westerville," the boy blurted out. "We go to Dalton. My parents live near here though."

"You're not that drunk anymore, are you?" Kurt asked, and the boy shrugged. Still, he seemed more capable of forming full sentences than Puck or Sebastian, or Finn before he'd disappeared.

"I told you – we're… we're just here for Kurt," Puck suddenly said, rather loudly. Both Kurt and the other boy looked his way, only to see Puck waving his arms around in exaggerated movements.

"Still, maybe we could…" Kurt didn't hear the rest of the sentence, as Sebastian was leaning closer and closer to Puck every second.

"Show-off," the boy next to Kurt muttered. When Kurt threw him a confused glance, he added, "Probably wants to show me that he's not… moping around, but that he's moving on and he can find other guys who want to get with him."

Before Kurt could reply to that, Puck exclaimed, "I'm straight, dude! I dig chicks!"

Sebastian seemed caught off guard, glancing from Puck to Kurt, as if looking for proof that Puck was lying. Kurt, however, merely smirked and nodded slightly. However, Sebastian recovered soon enough and said, "Doesn't bother me if it doesn't bother you."

Kurt didn't know what was going through Puck's inebriated mind at that moment, but he shook his head. He didn't really want to know, if he was completely honest with himself.

"Don't hear that too often," the boy next to him commented. Seeing Kurt's slightly confused look, he continued speaking. "Straight guys in a gay bar. Especially here, in small town Ohio. Most of my friends are straight, but I doubt I could ever drag them over to a gay bar."

Kurt grimaced. "Puck's the one who did the dragging here, actually. Also managed to get my stepbrother to come along." Speaking of whom – where was Finn? Kurt scanned the dance floor again and his mouth fell open. By now, Finn had somehow caught the attention of two other drag queens as well. "He's also very straight," he continued his little story. "Apparently, though, he's very popular amongst the drag queens."

The boy nodded slowly. "You had to use fake IDs as well to get in?" he asked conversationally.

Kurt nodded, shooting the bartender a look. Luckily, the man was far away enough not to overhear them. "The security here is really awful," he said.

"You can say that again," the boy agreed. "I think mine claimed that I'm from Texas or something."

Unimpressed by that, Kurt smiled quasi-patronisingly at the boy. "Mine said I'm from Hawaii," he countered, and the boy seemed to admit defeat.

"I'm Blaine, by the way," he said, holding out his hand somewhat awkwardly as they were sitting less than half a foot away from each other.

Grasping his hand, Kurt shook it firmly. "And I'm Kurt."

Movements on his other side told him that Puck and Sebastian were getting up, most likely heading towards the dance floor.

"Are you sure your friends are straight?" Blaine asked, clearly trying to bite back a grin.

"Very sure," Kurt said. "I think it's a good bet that Puck has slept or at least made out with the majority of the girls in school, and Finn… he's constantly after girls or dating them too. In fact, he actually has a girlfriend at the moment."

Blaine snickered, turning back around. "Let's hope no one tells that girlfriend anything about this."

For the next hour (or maybe even longer, Kurt hadn't counted that precisely), he and Blaine talked about many things; mostly, though, they exchanged stories about the hardships of being out gay teenagers in Ohio. They'd both been bullied, they'd both struggled to come out, and while there were many differences between Blaine's story and Kurt's, it was quite liberating to be able to talk to someone who understood, who didn't brush off problems like it was nothing.

While Kurt wasn't drinking and the topics were, at times, rather serious and quite heavy, he was definitely having a good night.

Somewhere during their exchange of stories about both their Glee clubs – Kurt had learned, to his surprise, that Blaine was in the Dalton Academy Warblers, and it took him a while to remember that yes, Blaine had actually been their lead singer during both competitions the year before – Kurt got a text from Rachel. Blaine watched somewhat confusedly as he opened the message with great caution. To his relief, she wasn't texting about Finn, but about something to do with the musical. After quickly dealing with _that_, Kurt turned back to Blaine and smiled apologetically.

"Sorry about that. My friend – she's afraid that I'm going to forget all my lines tomorrow." He rolled his eyes for the added effect because, well, that was typically Rachel. So certain of her own perfection, and thinking so little of everyone around her.

"All your lines?" Blaine asked, actually seeming interested. For some reason, it made Kurt smile inwardly.

"Tomorrow's the opening night of our school musical," he explained. "We're doing _West Side Story_. She's Maria, I'm Tony, so… can't forget my lines."

Blaine actually beamed at him. "That's so cool! I absolutely love _West Side Story_! Are there still tickets available?"

And wow, that was almost too much – Kurt took a deep breath as he tried to make sense of what was going on. This boy he'd just met, this boy who'd been lured here by a guy who seemed like a strange but terrifying combination of Puck and a male Santana, this boy who, it appeared, may have even more emotional baggage than Kurt himself had and had kept him company and had done a great deal of sobering up for the past hour – this strangely wonderful boy wanted to come to McKinley and see him, Kurt, someone he'd just met, perform.

He nodded quickly, not minding the fact that a wide smile took over his face. "Some nights are sold out, but there are still tickets left. I think I might be able to secure you a ticket for tomorrow night, if you want?"

"Sounds great," Blaine replied, smiling as well. "Do you… mind taking my phone number to let me know?"

Kurt was sure that he was blushing now, but if anyone asked, he'd just blame it on the temperature here. After they exchanged phone numbers, they continued talking for a bit, though Kurt had some trouble concentrating because of… certain reasons, but mostly because of Blaine. Blaine's presence here.

He should really work on not sounding like a walking, talking, breathing cliché.

And then, it was over. Finn came running over like he was chased by an angry mob, probably having sobered up enough to realise that something wasn't quite right about the 'women' he was dancing with. When he started almost begging Kurt to get him out of there, Kurt told him to go and find Puck first.

"Sorry," he blurted out once he faced Blaine again, but the other boy just smiled.

"I think I'd better find Sebastian too. It's a school night, after all, and we've got to go all the way back to Westerville…"

Kurt frowned. "Are you really going to drive back there tonight? Maybe you could stay at your parents' and go back tomorrow morning?"

Blaine shrugged. "I didn't bring my keys to the house and my parents are out of town, so that's not going to happen. But honestly, I'll be fine. If not for anything else, then for the fact that I have to come and see your musical, right?"

"Right," Kurt muttered softly, not daring to look Blaine in the eye right now and therefore not seeing the other boy fidget nervously in his seat.

"Maybe we could hang out sometime this weekend," he proposed. "If you're not too busy with the musical, that is?"

Kurt nodded quickly. "I'd like that." Yes, he'd probably be busy with the musical, but he could definitely make some time to spend with Blaine.

Then it was Blaine's turn to get a text, and he groaned, reading it. "Sebastian," he said as he noticed Kurt's confused face. "Apparently, he's gone already. Didn't take the car, fortunately, not that he could've because I've got the keys, but… he found himself someone to spend the night with."

Kurt snorted. "Classy." A moment later, he became serious again. "He's letting you drive back all the way to Westerville on your own." And to think that Blaine had been absolutely against leaving Sebastian here on his own.

"I'll be fine, Kurt. I promise." Before Kurt could object anymore, Blaine's attention was diverted. "And there are your friends, so I'd best be off. I had a great time tonight, Kurt, but let's never go back to one of these places again, okay?"

And if that didn't sound like a promise of a long term commitment, Kurt didn't know what was. Whether it be friendship or more, he knew that Blaine would be staying in his life for a while. This wasn't the last he'd seen of the boy.

After saying goodbye to Blaine, Kurt helped Finn drag Puck towards the exit. Apparently, Finn had found his best friend on the other side of the dance floor, where there was another bar. While he wasn't very happy with the fact that Puck was one hundred percent wasted, he was glad that Puck hadn't been the unlucky guy to take Sebastian home.

Ultimately, Kurt and Finn decided to just take Puck home and have him sleep in Finn's room. Their parents weren't home (if they'd been home, this whole evening wouldn't have happened this way to begin with) and they'd come here in Puck's car anyway.

While Finn (semi-drunkenly) talked about what he'd been through that night, Kurt briefly allowed his thoughts to drift towards Blaine, and he smiled. He'd have to thank Puck later for being so adamant about going to this gay bar, because it must've been one of the best nights in his life.

* * *

**A/N**: I just realised that, once more, it's Puck who made Klaine possible, just like on the show. Huh :)

Anyway, what did you think? Let me know, please review!


	37. Theatricality

**A/N**: I'm very sorry for taking so long to update this fic :\ The thing is, there were some papers and presentations I had to do, and truthfully, there are still some papers and exams to do in the next month or so, but they're spread out more so I should be able to still write a bit in between all those things. But, here's chapter 37! Again, it's sort of a combination of prompts, namely of _LivAndLetDie_'s idea to have Blaine and Kurt meet while the latter is in his Lady Gaga inspired outfit, and _127945_'s wish for Blaine to come across Kurt soon after the debacle-in-Kurt's-bedroom-featuring-Finn. Originally, I was going to write two separate stories for these ideas, but since they would take place in the same episode, and the ideas I had for them were pretty similar, I figured it'd be better to combine them. (And why, yes, what do you know? The boys are at the Lima Bean again. As I've said before, I tend to get repetitive in using ideas some time. On the other hand, this might also mean that it'll be a while before the coffee shop pops up again, even though it seems to be a permanent fixture in canon!Klaine's lives.)  
So yes, the timeline for the episode isn't completely right, but I hope you can look past that. The same thing goes for the fact that I'm taking a leaf out of the Glee writers' book and pretending that Westerville is basically an extension of Lima (or the other way around) instead of the two towns being about an 1,5-2 hour drive away from each other. (That being said, like I already said in earlier chapters, I'm not actually one of those Glee writers, nor do I own the show in any other way.)

I suppose that's about it. Hopefully you'll like the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom! :D

* * *

It was a nice spring day when Blaine, due to the Dalton teachers having all kinds of meetings all day, had a day off from school. Since he'd just finished his exams, he actually had time to relax for once. However, his plans to sleep in for a change failed pretty quickly when he woke up, feeling completely rested, even earlier than he usually did. Deciding against trying to fall asleep again, Blaine slowly crept out of bed and got ready to go and grab some coffee.

He normally had to hurry in order to be able to drive to the Lima Bean and back before his first class started – it was always a surprise when he managed to grab some breakfast, too – but considering the fact that he had all the time in the world today, Blaine took his time. Once he was done, he walked around his floor for a bit to see if any of his friends wanted to join him, but as it turned out, none of them seemed to be awake just yet.

It was a good thing that Blaine didn't mind going for his coffee alone.

Seeing as there was a little more traffic than usually, Blaine was positively desperate for his medium drip when he arrived at his favourite coffee shop. Fortunately, the line wasn't too long, and before he knew it, it was his turn.

Before he could open his mouth to speak, he glanced up at the barista. The girl – who was probably only a few years older than he was – was staring open-mouthedly at a spot right behind Blaine. Turning around, Blaine understood why the girl was so shocked. Behind him stood what seemed like a boy his age, wrapped up in silver foil and wearing a wig on his head.

As if that wasn't strange enough, the boy was also wearing silver coloured shoes with what looked like at least three or four inch heels.

Suddenly, the boy seemed to notice Blaine looking at him, and he simply raised an eyebrow at him. Before he could say anything, though, Blaine turned back to the register to order his coffee. He must be seeing things.

As he waited for his coffee, however, the boy turned out to be very real, as he was still there. He even spoke – which, in hindsight, shouldn't have been such a surprise as it was his turn to order something.

"Is something wrong?" he then asked Blaine, who hadn't even realised he was staring again.

"No, nothing's wrong," Blaine hastily replied, but couldn't quite tear his eyes away. "I was just… wondering what you're wearing and why you're wearing it."

The boy stood a little straighter (giving him an even bigger height advantage over Blaine) and responded, "This is my Lady Gaga inspired outfit. But I wouldn't expect someone like you to understand the genius that is Lady Gaga…"

He had a point there, even though Blaine didn't like his slightly patronising tone very much. Blaine didn't really understand most of what Lady Gaga wore, or why anyone would want to dress like her. "Don't you have school, though? Are you allowed to wear that… outfit to school?"

By now, Blaine's medium drip had arrived, but he didn't leave just yet. The boy smiled smugly. "This outfit is for a school assignment, actually, so yes, I'm allowed to dress like this. Not that any of those idiot Neanderthals could ever get that through their thick skull," he muttered in an afterthought.

"So… everyone at your school dresses like this?" Blaine didn't understand it in the slightest. He hadn't known that there were schools as crazy as that anywhere near.

The boy seemed unimpressed. "Of course they don't. Like you, most people will never appreciate the genius that is Lady Gaga. Besides, it's a Glee assignment, which makes it a big no-no for everyone else."

"Your school's Glee club isn't cool?" Blaine asked. Of course, he hadn't expected that show choirs all around Ohio were deemed cool at their schools, but somehow, this boy made it sound like his club was almost at the bottom of the social ladder.

"Not really," the boy replied, smoothly taking his coffee from the employee. "Well, it's been fun, but as you already pointed out, I have school now."

Blaine just nodded. "Yeah, of course. See you around?"

The boy gave him a dubious look before shrugging. "I doubt it, but who knows."

o-o-o-o-o

By the time Blaine arrived back at Dalton, most of his friends were awake. While Wes saw this day off as the perfect opportunity for an all-day Warblers rehearsal, he didn't manage to talk any of the council members into this and therefore, it didn't happen. Even though Blaine liked singing and the Warblers, he was glad that Wes hadn't gotten his way. He was already not looking forward to next year, when Wes would probably be in the council. The amount of rehearsals per week and the length of each rehearsal would increase by at least a hundred percent, or at least, that's what Nick and Jeff said. They'd even started a bet about the matter, something everyone happily took part in – except for Wes, of course, who, as far as Blaine was aware, didn't know about the entire thing.

Instead, the boys spent their morning playing violent video games – something Blaine wasn't particularly into, but it was alright every once in a while. After lunch, Blaine decided to read a book in the Warblers' usual meeting room, while his friends were doing things he didn't think he wanted to know about. The last time Dalton had had a day off, a game of hide and seek (yes, hide and seek) had gone slightly awry. Nick and Jeff had snuck into the teachers' lounge and gotten a detention, and Trent had had to be taken to the hospital after he'd been stuck in a freezer in the kitchens for the duration of three games.

Around four, Blaine's caffeine addiction kicked in once more and, deciding that he might as well visit the Lima Bean again, he walked back to his room. He didn't always have the time for this, and now that he had, he wanted to use it well.

During the drive over, Blaine suddenly remembered – for the first time since he'd gotten out of his car that morning – the boy dressed in silver. He wondered how his classmates had reacted to seeing him dressed like that. Would they just accept it? Were they used to him dressing outrageously? Blaine preferred not to think about the other option.

It seemed that he had forgotten about the fact that the Lima Bean was always rather busy around this time. With a sigh, Blaine went to stand in line, hoping that there would be a free table, or at least a empty seat, when he got his coffee.

He had no such luck. Glancing around the coffee shop, Blaine realised that every single seat was somehow taken. He sighed again. It looked like he'd have to enjoy his medium drip in his car, then.

Or not. There, in the corner of the shop, was a boy sitting at a table all by himself. Blaine could only see his back, but if he wasn't mistaken, there was an empty chair opposite him.

As quickly as he could, Blaine made his way through the coffee shop, dodging all the other customers as he went. When he came to a stop next to the boy's table, he spoke up nervously.

"Hi, sorry, is this seat taken?"

The other boy looked up, and Blaine noticed that he looked quite distraught. He also looked familiar. "Oh, god, you again? Are you stalking me now?"

Blaine's eyebrows rose to an unimaginable level. It was the boy he'd met this morning, only now he wasn't wearing a wig or any silver clothes. No wonder Blaine hadn't recognised him immediately.

"No – no, I'm not," he replied. "I didn't even realise it was you…"

The boy's features softened slightly, and with a somewhat vague wave, he said, "Nobody's sitting there."

Blaine nodded mutely and sat down, glancing at the boy concernedly. "Are you alright?" he asked. "What happened to your Lady Gaga tribute clothes?"

The boy just gave him an odd look at first, but after a minute, he started speaking. "I'm fine. Nothing's… wrong. And my clothes… they're at home. It was easier making over my bedroom without those clothes on."

Blaine smiled a bit. "You made over your bedroom?" he asked. "That sounds like… fun." Truth was, it didn't really. The last time Blaine's mother had come up with the plan to redecorate Blaine's room, he'd ended up with yellow walls and a bright red carpet. Needless to say, he'd spent another week on the couch while his father undid most of the changes.

The boy smiled wryly. "It was. I just didn't get the reaction I would've wanted, but I'll live."

"Want to talk about it?" Blaine asked. He didn't know the boy, but perhaps that was a good thing. If they'd never see each other again, the boy wouldn't have to worry about spilling all his secrets (or something) to Blaine.

However, the boy himself seemed to have an entirely different opinion about the matter. "To a complete stranger?" he asked rhetorically. "You're kidding, right?"

"Not really," Blaine admitted. "I just figured you could use someone to talk to, and it's pretty unlikely we'll see each other again, so…"

The boy still didn't seem convinced. In the end, he leant forward slightly, cast a quick glance around the shop and muttered, almost inaudibly but still harshly, "I'm gay."

Blaine nodded. "Yeah, I figured as much after the Gaga costume. I mean, I didn't want to assume, but…" He shrugged. "Oh – wait. Is that what you're so worked up about?" If he was completely honest with himself, it had been quite a shock for Blaine when he'd first realised he was gay. Not because he was repulsed by himself or anything, but because he'd been so afraid that people around him wouldn't accept it.

The look on the other boy's face was pure shock. "Why are you not running away right now?" he asked, once he'd recovered.

Smiling, Blaine replied, "I'm gay as well. And even if I wasn't, I doubt I'd be running away from you for that."

"Okay," the boy said. "Okay. But no, that's not what I'm 'worked up' about; I've known that I'm gay for ages now, and I'm fine with it." After a pause, he added, "It does have something to do with it, though."

Blaine nodded. As much as he hated to admit it, he'd come to realise in the past few years that a whole of problems and issues gay people dealt with, were actually issues they would've have to deal with if they were straight.

"There's this guy," the boy started hesitantly, glancing at Blaine. When that turned out to be all he said, Blaine smiled wryly.

"Let me guess, he's straight?" he asked. He had been there once, and it hadn't been pleasant.

The boy rolled his eyes. "Very much so. Quarterback on the football team and one of the co-captains of out Glee club. Very tall and handsome, and nice enough. At least, I thought he was."

"Did he know you're gay?" Blaine asked, and the boy sent him a disbelieving look.

"Everyone knows I'm gay," he shot back.

There was a short pause, which, eventually, Blaine broke. "So you said he's the quarterback? In my experience, jocks usually aren't very accepting towards gays…"

"They're not," the boy agreed. "But… he was different, in a way, I guess. He tried to stop one of his friends from harassing me once."

Blaine blinked. "No offense, but… once?"

The boy shrugged. "I don't know, maybe twice. And he was never the one bullying me… even though he _was_ always around…" He sighed. "Look, I know that it doesn't make a lot of sense for me to like him, but I do. I _did_. Just a stupid, entirely misguided crush. Who doesn't have them?"

"So what happened?" Blaine asked concernedly. He sincerely hoped that the jock had somehow hurt this boy in front of him, or insulted his outfit or something.

"I wanted to get closer to him," the boy responded. "So I did the most logical thing there is to do in a situation like that."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "You also joined the football team? Or proposed to work together for a school project?"

"Joining the football team didn't work," the boy said. "I already tried that, and it's just not my thing. And no offense, but I'd rather not work on a project with him – he's one of the least intelligent guys you'll ever come across." After a brief, somewhat dramatic pause, he added, "No, I decided to introduce my dad to his mom so they'd start dating."

Blaine just stared at him for a moment. "Wait – so you got your parents to date, so you could get closer to this guy? You tried to make that guy into your potential future stepbrother and thought it would be easier to date him?"

The boy pulled a face. "Obviously, I didn't think it through very well at the time."

"I take it he wasn't all too happy about it?" Blaine asked.

"Not at all," the boy answered. "Though I must admit, I'm not sure if that was, initially, because he was uncomfortable with me, or because he thought my dad was trying to replace his own father. But now our parents decided to move in together, and since we don't have the biggest house there is, he'd have to sleep in my room for the time being."

Blaine winced. "I bet that went well."

The boy sighed again. "I think I took it a little too far. I was convinced, after all, that he'd eventually fall head over heels in love with me. Instead, he just thought I was some creepy person who would… I don't know, have my wicked way with him while he's asleep and defenceless."

"Ah." That was something Blaine had heard before as well.

"Then I went and redecorated our room," the boy continued. "Which only ended up with him calling basically everything in the room 'faggy'."

"You're kidding." Truthfully, Blaine wasn't very sure anymore if that boy was really all that nice.

"Unfortunately not," the boy opposite him said. "I guess you could say I'm already over him, though it'll probably take a while before I mentally forgive him for that."

Blaine thought that that must be the quickest he'd ever heard of someone getting over a crush, but he figured that that was only logical, what with the other boy basically insulting him many times over. "I'm so sorry," he muttered. "Really, no one deserves to hear that."

"It's alright," the boy said. "Besides, my dad threw him out, which I'm actually pretty grateful for."

Despite the situation, Blaine found himself smiling just a little. "Your dad sounds great," he said, almost feeling a little envious.

The boy grinned back. "He is," he agreed.

Blaine nodded. "I would tell you to let it all out, but I'm guessing this is kind of a bad place for that?"

The boy smiled apologetically. "It is. Besides, you're still a complete stranger. I'll probably call one of my friends later. It's just… nice, being able to talk about this to someone who's unbiased. It's not like you know either of us."

Blaine flashed him another small smile. "I know. It can be quite a relief." After another short pause, Blaine said, "Anyway, tell me more about the room," attempting to distract the boy a little. It even seemed to work, as the boy launched into an animated tale about all the stores and websites he'd consulted before revamping the room. At times, Blaine's attention lessened a bit, but all in all, he managed to keep up with the story.

"And what about you?" the boy eventually asked. "How was your day?"

Blaine shook his head. "Not at all as eventful as yours, I can tell you that. I had a day off from school so I spent the day just hanging around a bit. Nothing special." He smiled softly. "Care to tell me more about where that Lady Gaga assignment came from?"

"There's not really much to tell," the boy informed him. "One of our competing choirs were doing her music last week, so our director decided that we needed to get… theatrical as well. The other guys got to do a Kiss song instead, seeing as they weren't very keen on dressing up like Lady Gaga." He rolled his eyes. "So now, they dressed up like the members of Kiss."

Blaine raised an eyebrow at him. "So in the end, they were the ones wearing all the make-up?"

The boy nodded enthusiastically. "I know! But weird as that was, I still like our costumes better."

"You got all the girls to dress up like Lady Gaga as well, then?" Blaine asked, wondering what the group as a whole would've looked like. Insane, probably.

As the boy described all his female friends' outfits, Blaine's mind reeled. It all sounded pretty surreal; how could a group of people walk around a public school like that for days?

All of a sudden, the boy stopped talking, and Blaine eyed him curiously. "That's my dad," the boy muttered, his eyes on his phone. "Oh, god. He's probably worried about where I am."

Checking his own watch, Blaine noticed that it was, indeed, pretty late already. If he didn't head back to Dalton soon, he'd miss dinner entirely. "I should get going as well," he therefore said. "I would say I'll see you around, but…"

"You'll never know," the boy said, standing up from his chair, Blaine following suit. "But as I said before, it seems highly unlikely to me."

"So we'll also refrain from even telling each other our names?" Blaine asked with a smile, even though he wasn't certain if he was really happy about that fact.

"If exchanging names and whatnot will make us less like strangers, it would defeat the whole purpose of me telling a stranger about all my woes, right?" the boy retorted. "It just doesn't seem right, at this point, only _after_ our conversation. But who knows, perhaps we'll find out each other's names some other time."

When they parted, Blaine couldn't help but feel one hundred percent sure that he would meet this boy again. He didn't know when, or how, but the promise was there, somewhere. He couldn't wait.

* * *

**A/N**: It's my headcanon that things go like they did in canon after this, so Kurt pops up at Dalton some time before Sectionals, and the boys finally learn each other's names (and numbers, and all that). However, there may be a small chance that Kurt doesn't instantly recognise Blaine, as I like to think he was out of uniform in this story and his ever increasing need to gel down his hair only started at the start of season 2.

Anyway. I have no idea what I'm doing, so just ignore that bit of headcanon.

Still, please let me know what you thought of this chapter? :) Any questions/comments/prompts are very welcome, so just click that review thingy beneath this! :)


	38. Prom Queen

**A/N**: Okay, so... this chapter's almost 1,000 words more than chapter 22, which was the longest chapter of this story before this one came along. And, as it tends to be, it wasn't planned beforehand that it would be so long. I think I just went a bit too far with the introduction or whatever I should call it. Don't get used to it, though - I'd thought I'd have finished this by Tuesday, but in the end, I only finished this last night. There's a POV change somewhere in the middle (from Kurt's to Blaine's) and there's also a flashback... just so you know.  
Then the usual comments before the actual story: as you can see, this chapter's set during _Prom Queen_, as requested by _littlelostsheep _and an anon going by _Laura_. I hope it all makes sense, and you'll enjoy the story :) Another few things: Kurt never transferred, but he was still being bullied; the other guys just looked out for him a bit more. Maybe, because he never met Blaine before too, the Karofsky situation didn't get as out of hand as it did in the series, but Karofsky is still one of the biggest bullies. He's dating some or other cheerleader/prom queen hopeful here as well (as a beard, probably, only she's not as aware of that as Santana was), Santana is still with Sam, and for some reason, Lauren did join New Directions anyway at some point. I have no awesome, sparkly headcanon this week to explain that, sorry ;) I think that's about it...

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom when you're done? :)

* * *

McKinley's hallways were buzzing with excitement; after all, it was only one week until prom – and even though it was just junior prom, it was as if the entire school would be going. Prom queen hopefuls were campaigning like never before, and their kings stood by their side in support, be it only half-heartedly.

One of the students who weren't exactly excited about prom was Kurt Hummel. Another was Mercedes Jones, his best friend. Nearly everyone in Glee club – in other words, nearly all their friends – were paired off perfectly, while neither of them even had a potential date. Even though Kurt loved the idea of prom, he didn't want to go unless with a date, and since finding a prom date was virtually impossible for a gay teen in Ohio, he and Mercedes had made extensive plans for the prom night, and none of those involved actually going to prom. He was well aware of the fact that neither of them were very happy about having to make such plans, but that was life.

During the next Glee meeting, a group of girls was discussing prom dresses, and Kurt would normally be jumping in excitement (though not literally – he had some dignity left, even after all the bullying that was still going on and still being largely ignored by the teachers) and offering to help them, but it _was_ kind of depressing, not going to his junior prom.

It got even more depressing when Mr Schuester walked in and wrote 'prom' on the white board, in that typical all-capital-letters writing he always used. And then he dropped the bombshell: they were all expected to sing at prom. By the time Mercedes walked out, Kurt had just about had it as well, but before he could go after her, Rachel already did so.

"But Mr Schue," Finn said from his spot next to Quinn, "we don't really have to perform at prom, right? Remember that deal we made at Regionals?"

"Deal?" Puck asked, turning around in his chair. "What deal?"

o-o-o-o-o-o

"_There they are," Rachel told Finn. The boy looked rather uncomfortable, walking with her like this, most likely because she'd just dragged him along, regardless of what his girlfriend would say. "Now, remember what we discussed?"_

_Finn actually had no idea, but he didn't want to risk angering Rachel, so he just nodded. She had probably told him the plan while they'd walked, but he'd been entirely preoccupied. _

_When they arrived where the other group was sitting, Rachel cleared her throat dramatically, and the Dalton boys looked up in surprise. "Warblers," Rachel addressed them, "we have a proposition for you."_

_The boys exchanged confused glances, but in the end, three boys walked towards the two McKinley students and introduced themselves as the Warblers council members. Finn didn't really know what that meant, exactly, but again, it was probably better to stay silent. _

"_What do you propose?" the Asian boy asked once they were a safe distance away from the rest of the group. _

_Rachel nudged Finn, but he just looked at her, bewildered, so she told the Warblers about her idea herself. "My idea will… spice things up a little, if you will," she said, a brilliantly scary smile on her face. "The loser of this competition will perform at the winner's prom. Whether at junior or senior prom doesn't matter, even though there are no seniors in our own group."_

"_Why?" the boy standing at the Asian boy's right asked, frowning. _

"_It'll make our win even sweeter," Rachel answered without missing a beat. "Or yours, but I wouldn't count on that if I were you. We're really good."_

"_What if Aural Intensity wins and they don't announce who's in second and third place?" the last boy asked, pointedly ignoring Rachel's last sentence. _

_Rachel scoffed. "That won't happen. And in case it does happen… neither of us will be performing at the other's prom."_

_The three boys exchanged looks, silently discussing the proposition, before the Asian boy shrugged. "That doesn't sound too bad," he said. "We'll do it." He shook hands with both Rachel and Finn, after which his two friends did the same thing. Once he and Rachel had exchanged contact information, they all left to fill in their respective groups – or, in Rachel and Finn's case, to not do so. _

o-o-o-o-o-o

"You made a deal with a couple of Warblers without asking any of us what we thought?" Artie asked.

"What if we'd lost?" Mike added, and Puck scoffed.

"No way I would've sung at that gay school's prom."

Kurt glared at him, but of course, Puck didn't notice.

"But we didn't lose!" Finn exclaimed. "So all we have to do is get Rachel to call them up and have them come and sing all night long."

Mr Schuester looked thoughtful. "We could do that… but since they're an a cappella choir, they'd all be up on that stage the entire time, for hours. I think it'd be better if all of you sing some songs as well."

Everyone seemed to think that was a fair deal, and in the end, they were sent away with instructions to pick a couple of songs they'd like to sing, whether as a solo, a duet, or with a larger group. Kurt sighed quietly; he would tell his teacher tomorrow that he wasn't actually going to prom. Right now, he'd have to track down Rachel and Mercedes, and make sure neither girl had killed or maimed the other.

As it turned out, this was a rather easy task. When he approached his locker, Kurt already saw Rachel leaning against it, and he slowed his pace. Judging from the look on her face, she must be planning something, and Kurt didn't know if he wanted to be a part of it.

"What is it, Rachel?" he asked as she moved out of the way to let him have access to his locker.

"You have to come with me," she told him earnestly. "I have an idea."

Kurt shot her a look. "Does it have to do with the Warblers apparently having to perform at our junior prom? Because Finn already told the entire club about that."

She looked caught off guard for a moment before regaining her composure. "No, it does not. You'll have to just come with me and see. And listen."

Because he didn't have to listen to Rachel Berry speaking enough on an average day. With a long-suffering sigh he managed to keep in for the most part, he turned back to her. "I'm not going to be a part of one of your crazy plans, Rachel."

When he shut his locker, though, Rachel grabbed his arm and tugged him along through the deserted halls of the school, towards the auditorium.

"You'll want to hear this, Kurt. It's one of my more amazing ideas, if I do say so myself."

As they entered the auditorium, Kurt was surprised to see that Mercedes was there as well. "What's going on?" he asked, equally suspicious and bewildered.

"We have a proposition for you," Rachel told him, and Kurt was instantly reminded of how Finn had described their meeting with the Warblers at Regionals.

"We were wondering if you'd like to go to prom with us," Mercedes continued, and Kurt frowned at her. Hadn't they already decided that they weren't going? When he voiced this, she said, "I know we did, Kurt, but… don't you want to go to prom? We know it's not how you'd envisioned prom, none of us did. But at least we'd be going with friends, and it'll be fun. We don't even have to stay all night. It's… prom. What girl or gay guy doesn't dream of that?"

"I'd say those dreams usually involve a real date, and not some weird kind of three-way date with two… friends." He glanced at Rachel. "Why are we even taking her anyway?"

Mercedes pursed her lips together to prevent laughter from escaping, but Rachel looked affronted. "When I'm a famous Broadway actress, you'll be glad you got to go to prom with me," she huffed, and Kurt just raised one eyebrow.

"Or are you just hoping that when Finn sees you with me, he'll want to steal you away from his very gay stepbrother?"

"I thought we were all friends," Rachel avoided his question, still seeming angry.

Mercedes sighed. "We'll all just go together." Catching Kurt's look, she added, "It's not like it matters anyway. Everyone's paying for their own stuff, and even if we go without her, she'll hang around us the entire night anyway."

"That's true," Kurt admitted.

"And think about all the stares you'll be getting when you walk in with not one, but two girls," Mercedes continued happily.

"They'll all know it's true," Rachel said, grabbing both their hands in hers. "The gay guys really get all the girls."

o-o-o-o-o-o

That was exactly what Puck said once Kurt got home and Finn wondered out loud what had taken Kurt so long. In reply to Puck's exclamation, Kurt just rolled his eyes and went upstairs, leaving his stepbrother and his best friend to the video gaming. He still had mixed feelings about agreeing to go to prom with his friends. Yes, he'd always wanted to go, but with a date – a real one, a male one. And it didn't even matter that he'd be going with two girls, and not just one – two girls didn't make a guy, as far as he was concerned.

So when Rachel approached him again the next day, he inwardly wondered if it was too late for him to pull out. Maybe he could fake illness on the day itself. That would probably be his best option.

Much like the previous day, Rachel proceeded to drag him towards the auditorium, but not before hunting down Mercedes as well. Well, at least Kurt wasn't the only one who had to suffer.

"Rachel, what's going on?" he asked as they entered the auditorium the same way they had done the day before. "What are we doing here?"

"I think a better question would be, what is _he_ doing here?" Mercedes corrected him, and as Kurt followed her gaze, he almost groaned out loud. Just when he thought this whole week couldn't get any worse.

"Jesse just happened to be in town," Rachel said, slowly moving to her ex-boyfriend's side. Kurt couldn't help but notice she sounded slightly nervous. "I invited him to join our… group for prom."

"Do _we_ get any say in this?" Mercedes asked the question Kurt had been just about to ask as well.

"Haven't you learned anything from what he did to you last year, Rachel?" he asked instead.

Together, Jesse and Rachel tried to explain what had happened, then and now and in between, and how she'd changed her mind and much more than either Kurt or Mercedes had asked for. Kurt suspected that they'd simply used this as a way to get them to agree, simply because they got tired of hearing Rachel and Jesse talk. He had to admit (albeit grudgingly) that it worked perfectly.

"They probably wouldn't even notice if we didn't go," he told Mercedes as they walked out of the auditorium, where Jesse and Rachel remained behind, supposedly to practise some or other song.

Mercedes poked his side. "Rachel's already bought us all tickets, so she probably would. Not sure if Jesse would, what with the hearts he has in his eyes when Rachel's around."

"What?" Within moments, Finn was standing before them, and he stared at them incredulously. "What did you just say?"

"Jesse St James is back, and he's going to prom with us," Mercedes summarised what had happened earlier.

Sputtering indignantly, Finn made to step around them and (most likely) march off towards the auditorium, but Kurt grabbed his arm. "You can confront Rachel tomorrow. Now, you're coming home with me, seeing as I'm your ride and our parents won't be happy if one of them has to come and pick you up from somewhere on their way home."

Needless to say, Finn was uncharacteristically quiet for the rest of the night, and Kurt feared that things would only get worse during the remainder of the week. He hoped he could stay clear of all the drama as much as possible.

o-o-o-o-o-o

When prom night came around, Kurt still wasn't sure if he was making the right decision in going, but since his friends (and Jesse) were counting on him, he got ready anyway. Initially, he'd planned on making his prom outfit himself, but seeing as no one in his homophobic school would appreciate his fashion genius anyway, and it wasn't like he had a date to impress, he'd decided against it. Instead, he'd joined his father and Finn when they went to the local tux rental shop. He wasn't too happy about having to rent something, but in the end, he fortunately managed to find something he approved of.

After making sure that he was completely ready, he headed towards Mercedes' house, where the group had decided to meet up – after all, neither Rachel's dads nor Finn would be all too happy to see Jesse again. The dinner at Breadstix was largely uneventful, but that was mostly just because none of them made all too many scathing remarks – if they had, it would've been a fight of (nearly) epic proportions – and instead, they just stuck to acting polite. This made Kurt even wearier of Jesse's presence, but he had no choice but to put up with him for the night. Hopefully, he'd be gone for good after tonight.

As soon as they arrived at prom, Rachel grabbed Mercedes and Kurt by the arms (once more) to find a somewhat private spot for the entire Glee club to discuss who was singing when. Of course, they had already figured this out, but Rachel, being Rachel, apparently had no faith at all in the memorising skills of her fellow Glee clubbers.

Rachel then went to greet the Warblers (and, most likely, to gloat a little too), and since she couldn't bring Finn along again (if the iron hold Quinn had on his arm was any indication), this questionablehonour went to Kurt and, by extension, Mercedes.

"I feel like the only thing we've been doing this week is being dragged along by Rachel," Mercedes muttered under her breath as they walked a couple of feet behind the other girl, and Kurt nodded in agreement.

"We'll find a way to make it up to ourselves," he promised her.

They came to an abrupt halt when Mercedes bumped into Rachel, who was standing still with her arms crossed. "They said they'd be here by now," she complained. "Do you think they didn't come?"

"I wouldn't blame them for staying away from a school like McKinley," Kurt answered. Those private school boys wouldn't know what hit them here. He could only hope that nothing bad would happen to them; that nobody would give them any trouble, because he had a feeling that Rachel, and quite possibly the rest of their club as well, would be held responsible.

"Sorry we're late," a voice suddenly came, and a group of over a dozen boys clad in tuxes was standing in front of them. How they'd managed to sneak up to them so quietly was beyond him, but he definitely didn't mind them being here, if he was honest.

"Where are your uniforms?" Rachel demanded.

The Asian boy at the front just eyed her curiously. "We thought that tuxes would be much more appropriate for a junior prom than our school uniforms."

"It'll also help us blend in more when we're not performing," another boy remarked. Kurt noticed that, while Rachel could probably see the logic in that, she wasn't happy about it, for some reason. Maybe she'd thought it would be more humiliating for the boys to perform in their uniforms, because it reminded them, and everyone else, of the lost competition?

After exchanging glances with Mercedes, Kurt smiled hesitantly at the group. "We're glad you could all make it."

This also snapped Rachel out of whatever trance she was in. She nodded stiffly before calling out, "Just follow me to the gym." As she stalked off, the others stayed where they were for a moment longer.

"Sorry about Rachel," Mercedes eventually told the Warblers. "We know that she can be completely insufferable."

"We should've locked her up in my basement ages ago," Kurt muttered.

"Except that's where you lived up until a few months ago," Mercedes pointed out. Kurt shrugged; that was true.

"You lived in your basement?" one of the other boys asked, sounding completely shocked.

"Yeah, I did," Kurt replied. "Why? It was the biggest room of the house."

"So it wasn't – " the boy continued, before another Warbler jabbed him in the side, shutting the boy up.

"Let's just go," Mercedes suggested, and she pulled Kurt along to the auditorium, at least walking a little slower than Rachel did. As they walked, she asked the three Warblers who had appeared on her other side, "Why on earth did you even agree with Rachel's crazy idea?"

The dark boy shrugged. "It's not that bad. We don't mind performing. Plus, if we'd won, we would've had an awesome group performing at our prom, right?"

"You two are… together?" another boy who'd just caught up with them asked, glancing curiously from Mercedes to Kurt.

"What?" Kurt was somewhat flabbergasted, but Mercedes just smiled at the boy.

"We're here on a group date with Rachel and her ex-boyfriend, but since that ex-boyfriend seems to want her back – "

"Even though her other ex-boyfriend, who's dating another girl now, doesn't like the idea of that at all," Kurt interrupted her, and Mercedes rolled her eyes.

"Yes, that's right. Because of that, I suppose you could say Kurt's my real date. But not my boyfriend, just my best friend. We're both too fabulous to find dates in a town like Lima."

The Asian boy grinned. "Well, you never know. Some of the Warblers don't have a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend, for that matter. Maybe one of them'll strike your fancy."

While Mercedes beamed at him, another boy burst out laughing. "'Maybe one of them'll strike your fancy'? Really, Wes? Who even still uses that expression?"

As the boys continued bickering on their way to the gym, Mercedes pulled Kurt ahead. "I think I'm starting to like this particular idea of Rachel's a little more." Kurt could only agree with that.

o-o-o-o-o-o

About twenty minutes later, Kurt started to appreciate Rachel's idea even more. Although an a cappella group would probably be no one's first choice for a prom band, the songs they sang were pretty awesome, and, it seemed, well-received as well. What shouldn't have surprised him as much as it did was the fact that all the boys, and not just the lead soloist, were very decent singers. After singing a few songs a cappella, they, like New Directions was planning on doing, had the band play some songs while one or two of them sang a solo and the others just hung around the gym.

He and Mercedes had danced for a bit (because, as they had already predicted, Jesse kept dancing with Rachel), but now she was preparing for a performance. Once more, Mr Schuester had shown his obvious preferences for certain songs and singers, as Rachel had more solos to sing than, for instance, Mercedes, who, in turn, would be on the stage more than Kurt. It kind of sucked, as he loved performing, but at least it gave the other students less of a chance to hurtle insults at him.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

When Wes had broken the news about their deal with New Directions to the other Warblers, there hadn't really been any protest. Most boys had actually been pretty excited either way, and Blaine desperately wished that he could feel that same way.

The problem was, he couldn't. None of his friends knew, not even his dorm mate or the people who'd first talked to him when he'd arrived at Dalton, but Blaine was not a fan of dances. How could he be, when the last dance he'd attended had ended with getting beat up and being in the hospital for a week?

He would've been fine if only the Warblers had won – dances at Dalton, he'd heard, were strictly supervised and there was no chance that a fight could break out; besides, if he really hadn't wanted to go, he could've stayed in his dorm instead. But of course, the Warblers hadn't won. They had to go to McKinley High to perform at junior prom. A public school. Since Blaine was more or less their unofficial lead singer, he couldn't remain behind. He'd just have to trust his friends and the McKinley High staff and students that he'd get out of the school unscathed by the end of the night.

So far, nothing bad had happened. There had been no incidents involving Blaine or another Warbler and one (or more) of these McKinley students. Their songs had been generally well received so far, as far as he knew, and now he and some of his friends were huddled together near the punch bowl, watching people dance and listening to the New Directions kids sing.

As it turned out, the various people singing at the competitions weren't the only ones able to belt out a song. While the current duo was singing a classic Beatles song, Blaine noticed the bossy brunette they'd met earlier (Rachel?) was waiting impatiently in the corner of the stage, most likely waiting for her turn. The song was barely over when she marched forward and ushered her friends off stage as she got ready to sing another solo (from what Blaine had seen and heard, this was her third tonight).

"I hope they do more Beatles songs," David remarked. "They sang it really well."

Blaine nodded in agreement as he watched the boy leading the girl off stage and then handing her over to what he presumed was her date. The girl on stage had started singing another ballad, which, it seemed, was her forte, and all the couples started dancing again.

"This is a pretty depressing song," Jeff commented as the girl reached the chorus.

"Yeah, it's not really a prom song," Wes agreed.

"Well, that's Rachel for you," a voice came from the other side of the table. It was the boy who'd just been on stage – and who'd also been part of the welcoming committee. He smiled somewhat apologetically. "She doesn't always think before she sings."

"You were really great up there," Blaine offered before realising it.

The boy, however, just smiled at him, almost seeming surprised. "Thank you. You're all amazing as well."

"You've got a really unique voice," Wes said – as if the boy didn't know that perfectly well himself. "All-male groups would kill for a voice like that in their midst."

The boy blinked. "Well, obviously mixed groups don't, or I'd get more solos. But I'll live."

"Where's your date?" David asked, glancing around.

"I think she's with one of your friends," the boy replied, smiling to himself.

"Doesn't that bother you?" Wes frowned slightly at him.

"Not really." The boy shrugged. "She's my best friend, she deserves a shot at happiness. Don't _you_ want to dance, though?" he changed the subject slightly.

"We've all got girlfriends," David responded. "Well – obviously Blaine doesn't, but…"

Blaine tried to glare at David, but seeing as his friend wasn't facing him, it didn't help much. Could he have been more obvious? He might as well have walked on stage and told the entire student population of this school that Blaine was gay.

It seemed, though, that the boy either hadn't picked up on it, or he was just ignoring it. "And your girlfriends are completely opposed to you as much as dancing with other girls?" he asked, raising one perfect eyebrow.

"I guess not," Jeff replied. "If that's all. Still, that's not reason for us to actively go and seek out girls to dance with, right?"

All of a sudden, Trent was standing next to them. "We should go get ready. Apparently, it's our turn to sing a couple of songs again."

They quickly said goodbye to the boy, and only when they were out of sight, Jeff said, "You're usually more talkative than this, Blaine. What's wrong?"

Blaine glanced up, surprised. He honestly hadn't expected his friends to catch onto his lack of enthusiasm tonight. He couldn't tell them the reason, though – this wasn't the place for that, and besides, it wasn't like they'd be in a situation like this again anytime soon. "Nothing's wrong, Jeff. I'm fine."

Wes smirked. "Yeah, I bet you are. Is he your type?"

Blaine nearly tripped over his feet. "What? Who are you talking about?"

Wes rolled his eyes. "That guy. Kurt, I think? Is he your type?"

Now, Blaine flushed. "I don't even know him. How am I supposed to know if he's my type. Besides, who's to say he's even gay?"

"Oh, come on, Blaine," David said. "Surely your gay-dar went off, right? Plus, he's here with his best friend. Who's a girl."

"That's incredibly stereotypical, David," Wes said, and Blaine pulled a face. "But he's kind of right, Blaine. That Kurt kid? Definitely gay."

Glancing over his shoulder, Blaine could just make out what he thought was the top of Kurt's head. Awesome as it was to almost randomly meet another gay guy in Western Ohio, the timing couldn't have been worse. Why couldn't Kurt just go to Dalton, or why hadn't they met at one of the competitions? Why did it have to be at a school dance, of all places?

He tried to clear his head instead, as Wes was making them all warm up again, after telling them the songs they'd be singing now. There was actually only one group number; after that, some individual Warblers (or small groups) would take the stage. Blaine didn't have to sing a lot of songs with instrumental back-up, since he had solos in all the group songs.

As they got on stage to sing, Blaine glanced around, like he'd also done the first time they'd performed. There were lots of people who could be threats, but there seemed to be just enough teachers to prevent anything bad from happening. Once the song started, Blaine was able to relax a little. Performing was still what he loved to do; he always enjoyed it.

He then noticed the boy, Kurt, out of the corner of his eye, and he was somewhat shocked to see that Kurt was looking at the stage interestedly. The two girls next to him – one of whom was his date, and the other was a girl Blaine had noticed trying to dance with almost every guy in the gym – were talking about something, and sometimes, the boy replied (at least, Blaine thought so; his lips definitely moved), but never took his eyes off of the group on stage.

When the song was over, most Warblers scurried off again while Wes started singing some song Blaine didn't know, but thought it might've been a song by some or other Asian artist – Wes had been listening to those kinds of songs for months now. Plus, the Asian couple near the front beamed happily at Wes as he sang.

Without even noticing where he'd been going, Blaine suddenly found himself face to face with Kurt again. The two girls had left again – Blaine thought he saw them both holding onto Nick rather forcefully, and for a moment, he felt bad for his friend.

"So, you're like the Rachel Berry of the Warblers?" Kurt asked, sounding curious, but smirking just a bit.

Blaine, realising that he'd been staring somewhat blatantly after Nick and the two girls, turned back to face the other boy. "Sorry, what?" he asked, not really understanding.

"Rachel," Kurt said, "she's our… self-proclaimed star and demands the solos in every performance. A very short brunette?"

Oh, right, that girl. "I… suppose?" Blaine replied, not too sure about his eventual answer. "It's not like I ask for every solo, but the others seem to… feel like my voice is the most suitable for the songs we sing." Kurt nodded thoughtfully, but before he could say anything, Blaine held out his hand. "I'm Blaine, by the way."

"Blaine," the other boy repeated, shaking his hand. "I'm Kurt. And it's good to know that there are show choirs in Ohio with soloists who don't have an ego the size of the state itself."

"Bad experiences?" Blaine asked, and Kurt looked at him somewhat oddly.

"Well, as I just said, Rachel, although nice at times, can also be very overbearing when she wants to, very bossy. She makes half of the group want to strangle her whenever she opens her mouth. And as said, her ex-boyfriend suddenly showed up again, and he's also very full of himself. It's actually surprising that they managed to date each other without their egos getting in the way."

"Right." Blaine wasn't sure what the girl's ex had to do with Kurt's argument, but he chose not to press the issue. "So, are you already getting ready for Nationals? It must be great to go to New York."

Kurt seemed to agree, if the way his face lit up was any indication. When he proceeded to tell Blaine that preparing thoroughly wasn't exactly a phrase that could be found in any New Directions member's dictionary, Blaine wondered just how these people managed to even be in competitions, let alone win them. He let it go, though, when Kurt admitted to wanting to go to college in New York, which was something Blaine had always been dreaming of as well. It was nice to be able to talk about that to someone who wanted to get out of Ohio as well – not just because nothing interesting ever happened there, but also because it wasn't exactly gay friendly. Kurt, too, seemed surprised to just happen upon another gay kid in this area.

They were interrupted a few times when either Blaine or Kurt had to go up and perform, but they always found each other again. Blaine wondered if it was really a smart move to hang out with the school's known gay kid the whole night, but he found that part of him didn't care a whole lot. The part that did care made sure that they were always standing near where a teacher was as well. Besides New York, the two talked about their Glee clubs as well. They weren't competition anymore anyway this school year, and it wasn't as if they had very valuable information anyway.

"Tell me more about Dalton," Kurt suggested at some point. "I actually thought of transferring there a couple of months ago, but my dad doesn't really have the money, and my friends suddenly started looking out for me a bit more." He shrugged.

Blaine smiled sadly, knowing fully well what Kurt's reason for transferring would've been, even if the boy hadn't actually told him. "I could talk about Dalton for hours," he responded. It was true; there were so many stories to tell, about the education, the non-bullying policy, his friends' antics…

Kurt just grinned at him. "Then you'd better start talking, right?" So Blaine did. Every now and then, Kurt would ask a question or tell a story of his own, and suddenly, Blaine realised that he'd probably missed a couple of Warblers performances. He hoped Wes wouldn't be too angry, but then again, nobody had come to drag him to the stage.

They were interrupted, however, when the prom king and queen were to be announced. From where they stood at the back of the crowd, they could barely see the principal on stage, and for a moment, Blaine thought about the sheer ridiculousness of how eager everyone seemed for the announcement.

When the prom king was announced, Blaine glanced at Kurt, only to find the other boy glaring stonily ahead. "What's wrong?" he whispered, nudging Kurt as lightly as he could.

Kurt frowned at him. "That guy who was just crowned prom king. He's… the biggest bully of them all."

Before Blaine could respond to that – or even come up with something to say – the principal went on, and something odd seemed to happen. Before he could even announce who'd become prom queen, many people in the gym started muttering about something, some even glancing around. A few moments and a metaphorical kick in the gut later, Kurt was all but sprinting away from him and out of the gym, as Blaine kept staring at the front in disbelief.

Then, before he could rethink his decision, he turned on his heel as well and ran after his newfound friend. Even though his legs were shorter, he eventually managed to catch up with Kurt, and it pained him to see the other boy like this. Kurt had told him that he initially hadn't even been planning to come, but his friends had convinced him anyway. Would he still have been chosen prom queen if he hadn't even been there?

He had no idea what he was saying, not really, but Kurt was responding and crying, and Blaine had to wonder how other kids could be so cruel, and why the faculty hadn't reacted in any way. Why had the principal read out Kurt's name, not even considering the effect it would have? Why hadn't he just randomly picked one of the girls on stage, even though she wouldn't really have won? Everything was better than this.

Blaine had, at some point, sat down against the lockers, when he'd realised that there wasn't really anything he could do to help except maybe be there. And where were Kurt's friends anyway? Did they really trust some guy they hardly knew to make sure Kurt was alright?

"What do you think I should do?" Kurt asked suddenly, hesitantly sitting down as well, nearly out of Blaine's reach.

"I don't know," Blaine replied, and he'd honestly never felt more useless than he did now. "I have to tell you something," he then blurted out, again without thinking it through. He couldn't believe he was about to tell a boy he'd only met a few hours ago about something he hadn't even told his closest friends about. Life could be really messed up, it appeared. Kurt turned his head sideways, studying Blaine curiously, but not saying anything. "At my old school… the one before Dalton… I was bullied as well. As soon as I'd come out, hardly any of my old friends would talk to me, and… it sucked. Then a dance came up, and I took one of the only friends I had left and who was openly gay as well. After the dance, a group of guys… beat us up and we both ended up in the hospital." He sighed. "My parents transferred me to Dalton as soon as I got out."

"Blaine," Kurt muttered. "I'm so sorry."

Blaine shook his head. "Don't be. I – I still feel so stupid, so… weak, for just running away."

"I'd hardly call that 'just running away'," Kurt remarked. "It wasn't safe for you to stay. I get what you mean though. It must've felt like… you were letting them win." After a few seconds, he groaned and added, "Which is exactly what I'm doing right now."

"Kurt, no," Blaine protested. The last thing he'd wanted to do was make Kurt feel guilty or anything. It didn't matter; Kurt had already gotten up again, and was now dusting himself off. His face was grim.

"I'm going back in there and get coronated," he said softly. "Then I'm going to dance with my bully and just… get this over with."

Not quite sure how to react, Blaine just gave him a small smile. "Just make sure to stamp on his feet the whole time." For some reason, that remark brought about another smile. Standing up as well, Blaine took a breath. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked, feeling somewhat anxious. What if this went completely wrong?

"Completely sure," Kurt answered, already walking back to the auditorium with a confidence that Blaine could only hope to attain when he was performing on a stage. Shaking his head to rid his mind of any thoughts he shouldn't have, he hurriedly followed Kurt back to the gym.

When he arrived, Kurt was already on stage and about to be coronated. Blaine chanced a look around, only to see everyone look completely shocked by the fact that Kurt was actually brave enough for this. The recently coronated prom king was looking rather uneasy, Blaine noticed. All this made him even prouder of Kurt than he already was, and the whole idea that he was this affected by someone he'd just met was somewhat overwhelming. Still, he happily joined the applause that was, most likely, started by one of Kurt's friends.

He held his breath to see what would happen when the principal announced that the prom king and queen would have to dance, and once more, he questioned the man's sanity. Why on earth did he go through with all this? Didn't he realise that neither boy wanted to dance with the other because the larger boy apparently made the other's life at school a living hell? Without fully intending to, Blaine started pushing his way towards the front, not sure if he was going to find his friends or Kurt's friends or give the principal a piece of his mind (though the last one seemed the least likely option). Before he got there, though, the prom king was hightailing out of the gym, leaving Kurt alone in the middle of the dance floor while two of his friends had started singing again. And _why_ were _they_ going through with this?

And was _he_ really going to do this? He owed this boy nothing, after all. He'd been so scared of situations like this for so long and this could only end badly. But when no one else did anything (for which Blaine glared at the short brunette he believed was Rachel for a split second), he did move forward, step by step, until he was only a few feet away from Kurt, who positively beamed at him as he extended his hand and alright, maybe it was worth it after all. It was awkward at first – they were both guys, who was even supposed to lead? – but before long, they got the hang of it and other people were even joining in. At first, it was only the New Directions members, but eventually, most students were dancing again.

After one more dance, some girl Kurt seemed to know came to steal him away, and Blaine managed to find his fellow Warblers again, even though his legs were shaking. Some of them clapped him on the back or the shoulder and talked to him and he might've talked back, but he couldn't remember much of it later on.

He could not believe he'd just done that. He was just calming down a little when Kurt approached him again – which his friends seemed to take as their cue to get up and stand a few feet away, in order to give them some privacy without leaving completely.

"Thanks," Kurt said quietly as he sat down next to Blaine. "Really, Blaine. Thank you. I didn't think anyone was going to – you certainly didn't have to – "

"I would've wanted someone to step in and help me out that night," Blaine muttered in reply. "It was the least I could do."

"Thanks anyway," Kurt told him again, reaching out to gently squeeze his hand once before letting go again. "If you're worried about that, by the way, I'll ask a few of my friends to get you back to your car, if you want."

In the end, Kurt didn't even need to ask – at the end of the night, the Warblers and the New Directions members were the only ones left and thus, they all walked outside around the same time. It did make Blaine feel a little safer, though.

As he and Kurt stood next to Kurt's car – out of earshot but within the others' peripheral vision – and exchanged phone numbers in order to keep in touch and maybe even go on a coffee date or two, a sudden idea occurred to Blaine.

"Hey, Kurt?" he asked, glancing around another time for good measure. "Would you, maybe, want to go to Dalton's prom? With me, that is. I mean, it's probably nothing special, but it's a prom and at least there won't be any people who'll ruin your evening. Unless you feed Jeff and Nick too much of the spiked punch, that is." That had never gone well at some of the Warblers exclusive parties Blaine had tentatively attended, after all.

He finally looked up at Kurt and was somewhat surprised (but also rather pleased, if he did say so himself) to find the other boy blushing slightly. "You more than made up for that," Kurt muttered, and Blaine wasn't sure if he was supposed to have heard that. "But yes. I mean, that sounds like fun. I would have to ask my dad, but… that sounds great, Blaine. I'd love to go with you."

Blaine didn't think he ever stopped grinning on the way back to Dalton.

* * *

**A/N**: So... what do you think? :) I'm sorry if it all was a bit hasty and all, but... I hope it was believable nevertheless. If you have any comments/questions/prompts or just feel like it, please don't hesitate to review! :D


	39. The Rocky Horror Glee Show II

**A/N**: I'm very sorry for the wait. I originally wanted to have this written and ready for posting before Christmas, but then I got busy and my laptop sort of broke down for five days at some point, so that didn't really work out. And a happy new year to all of you! I hope you'll have a great year!  
Anyway, this one was prompted by _once and then again_, a good old shopping trip, and I'm not sure if any explanation is required before reading this... I guess it should all be in the story, but if there's anything you don't get, just let me know and I'll try to talk myself out of it ;) One thing: I'm sorry if Blaine seems a little OOC. Let's just say one of his friends gave him too much coffee/sugar/whatever ;)

So, hopefully you'll enjoy the story, and please leave a review at the bottom! :)

* * *

"Why are we in a costume shop?" Kurt asked suspiciously as Tina dragged him through the door with slightly more force than he was used of her. "I haven't dressed up for Halloween in years. Have you?"

"We're here for our Rocky Horror costumes," Quinn replied, already glancing around the store.

Kurt frowned. "Wasn't Ms Pillsbury going to make those for us? Wasn't that sort of her task in this whole project?"

"She said she wouldn't have enough time to make all our costumes before opening night," Quinn responded with a shrug. "It's more work than she'd expected, apparently."

That Kurt could understand. "It took us a couple of nights to make most of our Lady Gaga outfits too, last year."

"That's true," she conceded. "Anyway, she told us to assemble the costumes we'll be wearing as Transsilvanians in a store, so here we are."

"But why are _we_ here?" Mercedes, who was still standing by the entrance, asked.

"You can help us pick out stuff," Quinn replied. "The sooner we're done here, the sooner we can go back to normal clothing shops again." She wrinkled her nose. "Anyway, let's start."

As they searched for the costumes, Kurt almost felt his skin itch as a result of being around so many artificial materials for too long. Finding wigs to wear was, in itself, not too hard for the girls, but it took a while to find good ones. It probably didn't help that Mercedes seemed to be in somewhat of a giggly mood and tried on every wig and every other accessory they came across – and after a while, Tina helped her find some of the most outrageous items the store was selling.

Kurt, in the meantime, wanted to get out of the shop as quickly as possible. If the girls didn't stop anytime soon, they might get thrown out. While he didn't care much for the costume store, just the idea of being thrown out of a shop was unacceptable to him.

While Quinn tried on wigs in various shades of green, contemplating the pros and cons of buying a wig she might have to alter later, Kurt glanced around the store once more. There were hardly any people there, and the clerk was just lounging behind the register; it actually wouldn't surprise Kurt if he'd fallen asleep. He wondered why this was the case for a few seconds – it _was_ only about a week until Halloween, after all – before he realised that he didn't care much.

"Can you go and see if you can find appropriate shirts to go with these wigs and jackets?" Tina's question shook Kurt out of his thoughts. Tina and Quinn were each holding a small bundle of clothes, including several wigs – Tina seemed to appreciate the blue ones the most, whereas Quinn had, in the end, chosen for a pink wig – and were looking at him and Mercedes expectantly.

"Sure," Mercedes said, apparently having quieted down a bit by now. "Come on, Kurt."

As they walked off, Quinn called after them, "See if you can find small hats to go with them, too!"

"It's crazy how many stuff goes in here," Mercedes commented as she stared at some of the baskets of random Halloween items.

"The shop's not even that big," Kurt said, agreeing with his best friend. "Well, let's get started."

They decided to start searching at the two different ends of the shop. Since the space in between the racks wasn't exactly big, that was a much easier way of going about finding stuff than constantly having the other in their way.

Kurt had been looking through a basket full of little hats for less than half a minute when he somehow felt a presence behind him. Hoping that it was not Karosfky – and if it was, hopefully he wouldn't actually be stupid enough to try to pick a fight in the middle of the mall – Kurt hesitantly glanced around and almost jumped.

Behind him was a boy, slightly shorter than him, fighting with a red and yellow striped tie. He wasn't looking directly at Kurt, who figured that it must've been the fact that he'd thought the store was deserted that had made him react the way he did.

Once the boy was done attempting to tie his tie, he glanced up and caught sight of Kurt staring at him in the mirror. He, too, seemed surprised to see anyone else in the shop. As he turned around, Kurt frowned slightly. The boy looked around Kurt's own age, but his costume was nothing like the things Kurt knew most people their age put on.

"Hi!" the boy greeted him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Kurt replied curtly. "Fine. What are you supposed to be?" Honestly, the long black coat and the striped tie didn't really ring any bells.

The boy, however, looked scandalised. "I'm Harry Potter!" he exclaimed, gesturing at his tie. "What did you think?"

Kurt shrugged. "I don't really know. You're kind of missing the rest of the uniform. And the hair, the scar, the glasses…"

The boy grinned – he actually _grinned_. Happily, too. "I know, but I've already got shoes and pants and a white shirt to wear underneath this. I don't really need to buy all that, right? I mean, white shirts are part of our school uniform, so they're not really hard to come by. And I've got glasses in my dorm, a pencil to draw the scar with, and… well, if I don't gel down my hair like this, it kind of looks like Harry's hair."

"School uniform?" Kurt repeated. "Dorm?"

Again, the boy flashed him a grin. "Yeah, I know what that sounds like. We often hear that Dalton reminds a lot of people of Hogwarts. A _gay _Hogwarts, since it's an all-boys school, but a Hogwarts nonetheless. I'll take what I can get."

"A _gay Hogwarts_?" Kurt asked incredulously. He huffed. "That's pretty offensive."

The boy regarded him silently for a moment. "Yeah, I guess it is," he conceded. "You get used to it after a while, though. You'd be surprised by the amount of straight boys walking around, though. I don't believe that's very different from public schools."

Kurt nodded. As amazing as it would be to have a school full of gay boys somewhere near Lima, he knew that that must be virtually impossible as well. "So you're dressing up like Harry Potter for Halloween?" he asked, perhaps somewhat redundantly.

The boy nodded enthusiastically, though. "Yeah! Dalton's hosting a Halloween party for all students – and the students of our all-girls sister school. It's a lot of fun."

"I bet it is," Kurt muttered. After all, what teenage guy – especially private school boys who hardly ever got to see girls – wouldn't like to be surrounded by scantily clad girls?

The boy shrugged. "Yeah, I don't really see the appeal either. What are you going to dress up as?" He glanced at the hats in Kurt's hand. "I sense that it's something involving a hat. Am I right?"

Kurt, somehow rather amused by this stranger's comments, shook his head. "I'm not doing anything for Halloween this year," he explained, and he didn't miss the look of horror on the other boy's face as he said this. "We _are_, however, putting on a production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Some of my friends needed help with their costumes, which, apparently, involve hats."

"You're not doing anything on Halloween?" the boy asked, and it didn't surprise Kurt that that was the only part of Kurt's response that he seemed to have heard. "In what kind of dreary, boring world do you live?" He paused for a moment before smiling apologetically. "Sorry, sometimes I get a little melodramatic. My friends tend to bring out the worst in me."

"I've seen worse," Kurt assured him. "And I'm not doing anything… well, mostly because I don't like Halloween all that much, but also because I don't get invited to any parties anyway, and I'm definitely too old to go trick and treating."

The boy grinned widely. "You should come to Dalton! I can get you in! It'll be awesome, you can even bring some friends!"

Kurt sent him an incredulous look. "I don't even know you," he said flatly, causing the boy to extend his right hand at him.

"I'm Blaine Anderson," he informed Kurt.

As he shook the boy's – Blaine's – hand, Kurt replied, "And I'm Kurt. Kurt Hummel."

Blaine beamed at him. "Awesome. So, now that you _do_ know me… have you changed your mind about coming yet?"

"How were you even planning on getting all of us in?" Kurt asked sceptically.

Blaine looked thoughtful for a moment, before replying, "A lot of my friends have girlfriends at Crawford – that's our sister school – so they won't need to bring a plus one, or whatever you'd want to call it. I'm sure I could find enough people to get all of you in."

"Get who in where?" Suddenly, Mercedes appeared at Kurt's left, and she looked from Kurt to Blaine curiously.

"Get us in at… Dalton's Halloween party," Kurt replied, not knowing whether to be grateful or not for Mercedes' interruption.

Mercedes' eyebrows rose as she shot Blaine an interested look. "Dalton? You mean Dalton Academy, practically the most prestigious private school in Ohio?" She poked Kurt in the ribs. "You weren't declining, were you, Kurt?"

"Well – " Kurt started, but he didn't get a chance to finish.

"What's in it for you?" Mercedes asked Blaine, and yes, that was a very good question. Why on earth would the boy invite a bunch of strangers to what appeared to be a rather exclusive party?

Blaine spluttered. "I hadn't really thought about that," he admitted.

"But the offer still stands?" Mercedes inquired, and Blaine nodded hesitantly.

"I suppose… You don't seem like the type of people to cause a lot of trouble," he answered, and Mercedes nodded.

"Alright, we're in. We'll ask our friends if they want to come, and we'll let you know how many of us will be there," she told him. Turning to Kurt, she said, "I managed to find some things for Tina and Quinn, but they're still – oh, you found some hats for them! I'll go give them to them; can you finish here? Exchange contact information, and the likes?"

"Uh – sure," Kurt replied, but Mercedes was already gone.

When he glanced at Blaine, the boy was giving him a conflicted look. "Look, Kurt," he started, "I totally get if you don't want to come, but I swear, I'm not… trying to prank you here, or anything. No one's going to harm you, there's a lot of supervision and Dalton and Crawford have pretty strict anti-violence and anti-bullying policies."

"What makes you think I'm worried about that?" Kurt asked stiffly.

"Just a hunch," Blaine replied. "I just thought – you're gay, right? If your situation is anything like mine was before I arrived at Dalton, you must have some big trust issues. But I promise, nobody will give you, or any of your friends, any trouble, and if they do, _they'll_ be the ones to get in trouble with the school. It'll be fun."

Why was it that this boy he'd just met read him better than most of his friends, at least, when it came to stuff like this? Glancing away from Blaine, Kurt mulled his words over for a few seconds. Yes, that was mainly what he was afraid of, and no, to be honest, the words of a stranger didn't do much to acquiesce those worries. But still…

"We'll be there," he replied, as confidently as he could.

"Great," Blaine said, his grin back on his face. "Just give me your phone, and I'll give you my number." As Blaine did just that, Kurt cast a look towards where his friends were. Quinn and Tina still seemed to be trying on clothes, but Mercedes just shot him a thumbs-up.

Only then did Kurt realise that a boy – who might very well be gay – was voluntarily giving him his number. Well, there was a first for everything, right? He just hoped he wasn't blushing too much – not necessarily because of Blaine himself, but because of this new realisation.

After Blaine had inserted his number into Kurt's phone and then called himself with it, he handed Kurt his phone again. "Just let me know how many of you are coming," he told Kurt again. "I'll make sure you can all get in."

Kurt smiled hesitantly. "Thanks, Blaine. I guess I'll see you… whenever this party is. When is it even?"

As Blaine was about to reply, Kurt heard his name, and Mercedes was waving him over. "You know what? I'll just text you the details," Blaine said. "Take care, Kurt, and I'll see you around."

Kurt hadn't come to the mall today with the expectation to be invited to a Halloween party by a complete stranger, but now that it had happened, he wouldn't have had it any other way.

* * *

**A/N**: So... what do you think? :) If you have any comments/questions/prompts, let me know, please review!


	40. Born this way II

**A/N**: So, this chapter isn't too long either, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway :) As the summary already indicates, in this chapter, Kurt did set up a chapter of PFLAG at McKinley/in Lima (though without Karofsky's help). It wasn't really... prompted, I think, but it came up in an old PM conversation with _LivAndLetDie_ so I'm just going to credit her. I don't know much about PFLAG and their meetings, so I hope this is sort of accurate... also, this was supposed to be funnier (or should I say, less sad(?) or something? I don't know) than it turned out to be in the end :\ Also: Kurt didn't go to Dalton here, but to another public school. But now he's back. Yay! Oh, and I also don't think Blaine took up boxing and started the Dalton fight club here. Just so you know.

One more thing: a huge thanks to everyone who's reviewed this story so far, and especially _KiKiFliesDW13 Gleek_, whose review was the 500th(!) one! :D

Anyway, I hope you'll like this chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom :)

* * *

Now that Kurt had returned to McKinley after spending a few months at another public school nearby (somewhat safer, but much duller as well), he was determined to start a chapter of PFLAG at McKinley High. It was desperately needed, and maybe something good might come out of it. Principal Figgins had already given him permission, although he had immediately added that he himself wouldn't be attending even the first meeting. To be honest, Kurt wasn't surprised.

It wasn't as if the principal hadn't let him down time and again in the past, after all. Really, Santana's cunning was the only reason why Kurt was able to come back to McKinley and, more importantly, his friends. If Santana hadn't somehow figured out that Karofsky was gay and subsequently blackmailed him for that very reason, Kurt wouldn't have left his previous school.

That being said, he didn't think he'd be ready to walk through the hallways of McKinley with his former bully, and Santana seemed to understand and respect that. He was pleasantly surprised.

With the help of his parents, Ms Pillsbury and Rachel and her dads, Kurt managed to put together a plan for the first few PFLAG meetings – if the first meeting would go well, they'd have to keep going, right?

Kurt had tried to put up some flyers around the school, but he'd known from the start that that would probably only end in disaster. While the jocks didn't physically assault him anymore, what with the Bully Whips – who had the principal's permission to give out detentions to all the bullies they came across – they made it known that they didn't want to see the flyers in the school.

Luckily, his father had agreed to put up a flyer in the shop as well, and Rachel's dads had each taken some to work with them; furthermore, they'd put up announcements on the internet, in supermarkets, and generally around town. The group had done their best giving their new PFLAG chapter some publicity, and could now only hope that some people would show up.

o-o-o-o-o

The night of the first meeting, the room was mostly filled with New Directions members – but not all of them; Kurt realised immediately that Santana, for instance, wasn't present, which was both surprising and unsurprising to him, and Sam had apologised profusely but claimed that he _really _had to work that night – and some of their parents. Rachel's dads were even playing hosts, which Kurt didn't mind all too much. Apparently, they'd been trying to start a PFLAG chapter in or near Lima for years now, but this was the first time anyone had shown any interest. That hadn't been very encouraging to hear.

Also present were a few McKinley teachers (he suspected maybe coach Sylvester might've come, if it wouldn't have seemed like she actually cared) and what must be Rachel's dads' friends or co-workers, and it appeared that some other people, who didn't really have any ties to one of the organising parties, had shown up as well.

_That_ was at least somewhat encouraging.

When the meeting started, Kurt was happy to see that there was, indeed, a rather well-sized group of people in the room. Even if half of them wouldn't show up for a second meeting, there'd still be some people left. Maybe this _was_ going to work.

After going around the room for introductions – Kurt was surprised to learn that there were people here coming all the way from Westerville; he'd have thought there'd be PFLAG chapters closer to that town – he and Rachel's two dads (who were just as… enthusiastic as Rachel herself; he could definitely see where she got that) started explaining what they were planning on doing tonight and during the next few meetings. As soon as Kurt stopped talking, there was a short silence before one of Rachel's dads started speaking. However, during this silence, a dark haired boy Kurt didn't quite know the name of, climbed on top of his chair. He was sitting (well, standing now) across the room from Kurt, and everybody hurriedly glanced around at him.

Kurt sighed. It had all gone so well, but he could've known that someone in the group was either completely mad or a homophobe trying to provoke people or turn them straight. Before anyone could do anything, however, the boy started shouting at the top of his lungs (which he didn't need to do at all, as everyone else in the room was already staring at him in silence).

"Equal rights to everyone!" the boy shouted. "We ought to be accepted in society – " As the boy told them all exactly what his opinions were, Mercedes caught Kurt's eye from a few seats down.

"Who the hell is that?" she whispered.

"I have no idea," he replied, staring at the boy who was still half-shouting things from his position on top of his chair. "He looks kind of familiar, sure, but I don't know who he is and what he's doing here."

The two boys who were sitting on either side of the boy on the chair were standing up as well now. While the blonde tried to reason with the boy, the brown-haired guy turned to the rest of the room. "We're very sorry about Blaine," he said apologetically. "He's…" He turned back to his two friends. "He's kind of having a bad time right now. His dad wasn't happy at all when he found out Blaine was planning on attending this meeting tonight, so I suppose he's letting out all his frustration now. He's not usually like this, trust me."

"Well, he _does_ always climb furniture," the blond boy corrected him, keeping his eyes at their friend. "He just usually doesn't shout like this."

"Why didn't his father want him to come here?" one of Rachel's dads asked, glancing at the now distraught looking boy standing on the chair.

The boy who'd first spoken glanced at his two friends hesitantly. After what seemed like a heavy internal debate, he responded, "He doesn't agree with… Blaine being the way he is. He thinks Blaine chose to be gay in order to rebel against his parents and society, that he just loves the attention. So he definitely doesn't want him to associate with people who are the same as him."

As people started muttering, probably having experienced the same thing, Kurt figured that it might be good to address this matter as well in a later meeting. Eventually, the boy, Blaine, sat down again, his friends' hands firmly on his shoulders. He muttered an apology, looking rather embarrassed by his own actions, but it appeared that a lot of people felt sympathetic instead of angry or annoyed. Kurt himself had never been more thankful for his own father, and it didn't shock him at all that, as he glanced at his father, he was studying Blaine intently.

The meeting went on without any further interruptions, be they by Blaine or anyone else. Several people tried to coax the boy into talking about his obvious issues with his father, but he just shook his head and kept his mouth closed.

When the meeting ended, Kurt's father didn't hesitate one moment, but immediately approached Blaine and his two friends. Although he was curious as to what his father was saying, Kurt knew he had to talk to Rachel's dads about the meeting, and to other people as well if they wanted to.

After almost everyone had left, the two boys who'd been sitting next to Blaine were suddenly standing in front of Kurt. "Is that your father?" the blond one asked, nodding towards where Kurt's dad was still talking to Blaine.

Kurt nodded. "Yeah, that's my dad. Why?"

The brunet grinned. "You'd better watch out. It's almost like he wants to adopt Blaine."

"It wouldn't surprise me," Kurt muttered. "So… you're his friends, then?"

The two boys nodded sagely. "Yes, we are," the brunet replied. "We tried to make him attend meetings closer to Westerville, but that never worked out very well. So here we are."

"It doesn't bother you that you have to come along?" Kurt asked, wondering if these boys were really forced to come; after all, they didn't seem very opposed to being here, but not everything was what it seemed.

"Not really," the blond boy answered. "He's our friend, and this is a meeting for parents, family and friends of gay people, right?"

"Right," Kurt replied, wondering if he'd have been able to drag along some of his friends – let alone the _guys_ in Glee club – along to a meeting about gay people about two hours away. Maybe now, some of them might come along, but only a few months ago, most of them wouldn't have bothered. "He's lucky to have friends like you guys."

The boys grinned proudly. "He should be proud," the blond boy agreed.

"Everyone at Dalton's really friendly, though," the other boy said. "Especially since we're all in the most popular club in school."

"Which club might that be?" Kurt asked. He had no idea what private school boys in dark blue blazers were into.

"The Warblers!" the boys exclaimed in unison, and before Kurt had a chance to respond – he hadn't realised these boys were in the show choir New Directions had defeated at Regionals a few weeks prior – Rachel was standing next to him.

"Where?" she demanded.

The two boys eyed her oddly, and Kurt rolled his eyes. "Rachel, in case you'd forgotten, we haven't exactly been singing tonight," he started, but it was too later.

"Spies!" she cried out, pointing at the two boys, and attracting the attention of everyone else in the room – which, granted, wasn't a lot of people, but it was slightly embarrassing nevertheless.

"Rachel, please," Kurt said. "No singing has been going on tonight, and besides, they're no longer the competition, remember?"

"Oh, right, you're that girl," the blond boy said, nodding in recognition. "I'd also like to point out that us Warblers accepted our defeat with more grace than the woman who coached Aural Intensity."

"Well, yeah, but that's coach Sylvester," Rachel countered, though her argument didn't appear to win the two boys over, so she stormed away again.

"Sorry about that," Kurt said. "Did you really just imply that your show choir is the most popular club at Dalton? Maybe I _should_ have transferred there instead…"

The boys then started talking about how awesome the Warblers were, at least until their friend approached them again, looking a little hesitant about Kurt's presence. Once his friends had calmed down enough, Blaine smiled apologetically at Kurt. "Sorry for disturbing your meeting," he said quietly. "I'll just – go and wallow in shame now and never come back."

"What?" Kurt wondered what his dad had told this boy, if he thought he was no longer welcome at these meetings. "No, you can come back! That is, as long as you don't get on a chair every time to proclaim what all of us here want to happen."

Blaine nodded sheepishly. "Yeah, no, I'll definitely try not to ever do that again. I have no idea why I did that, to be honest."

"Sometimes you have to get your frustration out," the blond boy reminded him.

Their brown-haired friend nodded. "Yeah, we all do. It's not your fault that you have to be standing on top of a chair for that. I mean, Wes polishes his gavel like mad when something's bothering him, David finds new ways to organise our sheet music – it drives Thad crazy, remember? – and Jeff here sends angry texts to every number in his phone."

"You're more normal than most of us," the blond boy (Jeff, apparently) agreed.

And Kurt thought New Directions had some weird members.

"And if you ever want to talk…," he started.

"I know," Blaine said. "It's what that man over there just told me as well." He took a deep breath. "Perhaps I'm ready to talk about it during the next meeting. That's next week, right? Or is it the week after that?"

"It's in two weeks," Kurt confirmed. "Don't feel pressured to talk about it, though."

Blaine shook his head. "No, it's fine. Most of the guys at Dalton know about it."

"We had to figure it out ourselves, though," Jeff reminded him.

"Whenever you're ready," Kurt said, and Blaine smiled slightly.

"I'll keep it in mind," he promised. "We should go now, though – Dalton's quite a drive away, I'm afraid."

Kurt nodded understandingly. "Okay. See you next time, then, I guess?"

The three boys nodded, and even waved, as they walked out of the room.

"I don't understand those people," Kurt's father said, suddenly standing next to Kurt. "Parents who can… look at their kids and just… not accept them."

"I know," Kurt muttered. "Thanks, dad."

He wasn't sure what he was thanking him for – for accepting him, for being there, for talking to Blaine… perhaps it was all those things and more.

As they walked towards the parking lot, Kurt replayed the events of the evening and decided that it had been a good first meeting. Knowing Figgins, something would get in the way of holding a second meeting (and the ones after that) at school, but both Rachel herself and her fathers had volunteered to hold them in their house – their basement was certainly big enough. It would all be fine, and maybe, just maybe, they could make some sort of change, however small it may be. Kurt definitely hoped they could.


	41. Never been kissed

**A/N**: I'm sorry for the wait! I had all kinds of stuff to do and while I'm still busy, I like to think I've got a bit more free time now :) (Plus, I really, really want to try to have at least about 52 chapters of this story up in exactly two months from now, as that'll be when it's been up for a year.) So, this chapter... it's set in NBK, as you can see, but all the Karofsky stuff didn't happen, I suppose, seeing as this is still a different meeting at a different time. Just not as different as most other chapters. This was, by the way, prompted by _LivAndLetDie_ (in a way...) and _glistening moon_. I hope you'll enjoy it! :)  
And as always, another couple of notes. I have no idea how they'd get Artie in, as, from what I've gathered, Dalton seems to love stairs, and I have no idea if there's an elevator or something. Maybe we'll find out more in the next Glee episode? Anyway, let's just say the auditorium is at the ground floor, and there's a wheelchair ramp or something. Use your imagination ;) The performances are mostly just like the ones in NBK, only slightly different (though that's not too clear from the story) because it takes place somewhere else. Furthermore, I have no idea what I was doing at some points in the story - but I sort of liked it, so I kept it in.

Hopefully you'll like the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom! :D

* * *

Walking through the Dalton halls, Blaine felt like something was about to happen. Everyone seemed more excitable and he'd somehow had his favourite meal for lunch (which was saying something, as it was a rare sight in the cafeteria). He'd slept dreamlessly last night, and the teachers weren't completely being their strict selves.

His friends chattered away happily during lunch, but Blaine couldn't focus. Whatever was going to happen, it was big. Perhaps even life-changing. No, that sounded too much like the horoscopes his mother sometimes consulted. According to those, pretty much everything that happened was life-changing, and in a way, Blaine figured, that may be true.

Deciding to put his worries to rest for an hour or so, he walked into the Warblers' meeting room that afternoon moments before Wes started, and he hurriedly sat down. There was a piece of paper in Wes' hand, and only then did Blaine remember what time of the year it was again – not that Wes hadn't been drilling it into their minds anyway for the past few weeks.

Sectionals was coming up.

"We received a letter today containing more information about our Sectionals competition," Wes announced, holding up the paper for everyone to look at. Excited murmurs went through the room, though it seemed like the freshmen and other new members were most excited about the news. After all, they didn't know yet that every year for the past seven years, the Warblers had had to compete against Vocal Adrenaline at Sectionals. Needless to say, they'd lost every year.

"It's not Vocal Adrenaline," Thad added, and Wes shot him an annoyed look, as if he'd wanted to break the news. Now, there were no excited whispers anymore – there was excited shouting, and, if he hadn't been sitting next to anyone, Blaine probably would've jumped on top of the couch in his enthusiasm.

"So, who is it?" Trent asked, leaning forward expectantly. This question quickly shut everyone else up.

"Come on, guys, just tell us," Jeff whined.

"Jeff, please," Wes said, casting the blond boy a slightly disturbed look. "Alright, our first competitors are the Hipsters. They're a group of elderly people trying to get their high school GEDs now."

"Is that legal?" Nick asked, looking confused.

"It must be," David replied. "If it weren't legal, they wouldn't be allowed to take part in competitions."

"So who's the other group?" Andrew asked. "A group of circus artists?"

Sending him a disapproving look, Wes responded, "No, it's not. Though I have no idea who picked their name. They're called New Directions – " He was interrupted by several Warblers bursting out laughing hysterically. Once the silence was back, Wes continued. "Yes, I don't doubt you find that funny. The group is composed of students from William McKinley High School in Lima. We've done a little research, and it turns out they actually made it to Regionals last year, where they were stomped by Vocal Adrenaline."

"So that's the group we need to watch out for," Blaine deduced.

"Indeed we do," Wes said. "Which is why I propose that we invite the McKinley students for a little… scrimmage here at Dalton, to see how good they are and to show them that we aren't afraid of them."

Nick and Jeff whooped at this, clearly excited about this new prospect. They weren't the only ones; all the other Warblers were in a similar state of excitement. Blaine just hoped that these public school kids wouldn't be as bad as the ones at his old school.

After telling the group that they'd try to contact the other group's director as soon as possible, the council members went on with the meeting, and the subject of the upcoming scrimmage was forgotten.

o-o-o-o-o

Forgotten until the next rehearsal, that was, when Wes proudly announced that the other club's director had sounded almost more enthusiastic about the proposition than the Warblers had been. Apparently, the man had set his group an assignment that would be 'perfect' for the scrimmage, and had even asked if it was 'alright' for his group to perform two songs. After telling him that the Warblers would still only do one song, they hastily agreed with him.

Two songs meant a better opportunity to see what their competition's strong and weak points were, after all.

"There are girls in New Directions, right?" Nick asked excitedly as he sat down at the dinner table after rehearsal.

Jeff snickered, but before he could open his mouth, Wes glared him down. "Don't even try, Jeff."

"But they're making it so easy!" Jeff protested, then proceeded to try to rearrange the food on his plate to resemble a smiley face.

"As far as we know, there are girls in New Directions," Thad confirmed Nick's question. "Why? Did you and Jeff break up?"

Nick huffed and crossed his arms. Jeff just shrugged. "He wasn't really… satisfactory, in that department, if you – "

"Oh, for god's sake, Jeff!" Nick cried out. "Sometimes, I feel like you _want_ people to think we're gay!"

"Only for each other," Jeff said.

"No, Thad, we didn't break up. We were never together in the first place," Nick told the other boy, sounding rather annoyed.

"Are you sure about that?" Blaine asked. "Because Jeff just said – "

"Since when are we taking Jeff seriously?" Trent asked, earning himself a pout from Jeff.

"You know, that's a good question," Blaine said thoughtfully. "I think it might've started – "

"Fine. Ignore our door breaking and window shattering romance," Jeff huffed.

"I'm pretty sure that's not – " Trent started to say, but Jeff shook his head dramatically.

"It wasn't as good as Wes and David's is, anyway," Thad said with a shrug. Jeff stomped away indignantly.

"What were you saying about girls, Nick?" Wes asked, choosing not to react to Thad's last statement. After all, the group had had this discussion so often already. It was better to just ignore it – unless they _wanted_ to annoy their two friends, that was.

"I forgot," Nick said, frowning. "Oh, right! Maybe there are some cute girls in New Directions. Wouldn't that be awesome?"

"You do realise that your main audience consists of straight guys in a relationship and me, right?" Blaine asked. "We don't particularly care about meeting potentially cute girls."

"Fine," Nick scoffed. "Then I'll just talk to – oh, right. Jeff left. You chased Jeff away!" he told Thad, pointing an accusing finger at the council member. "Now I have to – oh, wait." He rummaged through his bag in search for his phone, which was ringing now, and when he finally picked it up, he said, "Jeff! We were just – yeah, alright. Sure, I'll be right there."

Shoving his phone back in his bag, Nick stood up from the table and stalked out of the room with a dramatic flair Blaine didn't know his friend possessed.

"Co-dependant," David muttered under his breath, and Thad snorted.

"You and Wes are just as bad, if not worse."

o-o-o-o-o

Sooner than Blaine had expected, the day of the scrimmage arrived. The Warblers had all been excused for their final classes for the occasion after they'd heard that McKinley's group would be leaving around lunch, thus making them arrive at Dalton an hour and a half later. Although he wasn't exactly interested in any of the girls (and the boys were probably all straight as a ruler), Blaine did hope that the other group would stick around for a bit after the performances. It would be interesting to talk to them. If they turned out to be typical public school kids like Blaine had known at his old school, he'd probably be able to sneak away to his room at some point.

They had rehearsed a lot in the past few days – the council had really made it their goal to blow the other Glee club away with the Warblers' _Teenage dream_ performance. Blaine tried to ignore the fact that, since he was singing lead in that song, most of the pressure would be on him. This wasn't Sectionals yet, after all. This was just a… quasi-friendly meeting with their biggest competition. As a matter of fact, if they messed up today, it would come as an even bigger blow to the other club if the Warblers won at Sectionals.

Most Warblers were scattered around the stage of the auditorium – they didn't come here very much, as rehearsals were always held in their meeting room, so they ('they' being mostly Jeff and Nick) had to explore – and two rows of seats. Blaine was aimlessly walking across the backs of the seats, however, in an attempt to keep calm. This _was_ the first time he was going to be the lead soloist in front of a non-familiar audience. It was his first solo, period, but at least they'd performed the song in front of the whole school already.

Needless to say, Blaine was a little torn about what exactly he was feeling.

Wes and Thad – the latter of whom had decided that he, and not David, should accompany Wes, as he strongly suspected that the other two council members would run off somewhere together one of these days – had already left to welcome the McKinley High show choir, and David wasn't even pretending to try to keep the other Warblers quiet. Blaine was slightly lost in his own world when Wes and Thad came marching back in, followed by a rather loud group of people. Well, that was one thing the two Glee clubs had in common, then.

As he tried to balance his weight on the seats, Blaine glanced at the newcomers curiously. Just like Nick had predicted, there were a couple of girls present, but at least half of them seemed taken by boys on the group. The other Warblers flocked closer to group as a whole, chattering away happily, and right when Blaine figured that might be a great idea, he saw _him_ – the most perfect boy he'd even seen, from his soft hair and beautiful eyes to his graceful stance and the elegance he wore his suit with – and he gaped openly.

And then lost his balance and fell off the back of the seats on the ground with a loud smack.

"What was that?" one of the girls exclaimed.

"That was probably Blaine," Wes replied. "Blaine? Are you alright?"

"Fine," he said curtly, unable to form a coherent sentence right now. Just his luck – not only had he fallen rather hard, everyone else in the auditorium, including the boy he'd been gaping at, had noticed and was now staring at where he'd just been standing. He felt like such a fool. Now he'd never stand a chance, even if the guy was gay.

"He normally never falls off of furniture," Trent said, sounding slightly worried. "Are you _sure_ you're alright, Blaine?"

"You mean him climbing on furniture is a regular occurrence?" a male voice Blaine didn't recognise asked. "Why can't he just sit down?"

"He's – um…," Wes started, but David finished his sentence before Wes could (probably) think of a slightly nicer way to say it.

"He's short."

"Oh, Rachel, do you hear that?" another girl drawled. "It's your long lost twin!"

"Well, he's not _that_ short," Thad muttered, most likely eyeing the girl critically.

Finally gaining the courage to get up and face his peers, Blaine stood up and dusted off his pants, trying to appear calm.

"He really is short!" one of the New Directions guys – Blaine thought it was the same one who'd spoken earlier as well, but he couldn't be sure – exclaimed.

"No, you're just incredibly tall," Nick retorted. Mutters of agreement went through both groups, causing the tall guy to look affronted. Personally, Blaine thought the matter only got funnier when the short girl (who, admittedly, had to be about a foot shorter than Blaine himself was, if not more) tried to assuage him.

"And I'm probably still taller than all you girls," Blaine added, wanting to defend his own honour a little more.

"How terrific for you," one of the girls bit back, giving him a bitch glare that had Blaine backing up quickly. As he did this, he accidentally caught the eye of the boy he'd been looking at earlier, who gave him an apologetic smile.

"Shall we get started, then?" the man Blaine assumed was the other group's director asked. "You can all mingle and… talk later, too."

"But no telling them our set list!" the short girl added loudly, glowering at Wes as if he'd tried to weasel the information out of her earlier.

"What set list?" the perfect boy asked sceptically, raising a perfect eyebrow at her in question. And okay, wow, his voice. If Blaine hadn't already fallen hard for his boy (in more than one way), he definitely would've been sold right now. If he'd been on top of the seats, he would've fallen down all over again. The boy's voice was almost… angelic, and Blaine found himself smiling stupidly.

"Kurt!" the girl hissed, but the boy – Kurt, apparently; Blaine was never going to forget that – just rolled his eyes, unimpressed.

"So how are we going to do this?" the directors of New Directions asked Wes loudly, in an attempt to shut his students up. When everyone was quiet, he continued, "Like I told you on the phone, we've got two songs we can do, so…"

"Why don't you go first, then we'll go, and after that, you can do your second number?" Wes suggested.

"Alright, let's do this!" the man said enthusiastically, and the short girl was already walking towards the stage determinedly.

To Blaine's surprise, the New Directions boys sat down in the audience. "Aren't you… supposed to perform now?" he asked one of them, a blond boy with a large mouth.

"We had a boys versus girls competition this week," the boy replied. "So the girls are singing their song now, and we're performing ours after you go."

"They're both pretty awesome," the Asian boy next to him said.

So, boys versus girls? That meant that they would probably be showcasing even more of their singers than the Warblers had hoped. At least it wasn't two solos or duets by the exact same people.

"Hello, Warblers," the short girl greeted them from the stage. For the first time since the group had walked in, Blaine noticed that this girl seemed to be dressed in leather (or something that looked like it) from head to toe. "And thank you for inviting us here for a little… scrimmage. We're surprised that you weren't too afraid of us to do so. Now, for our assignment, the girls and the boys both put together their own mash-up. So enjoy."

She walked back towards the wings, leaving the stage empty. Soon, however, music started, and the girls all walked out, and Blaine realised that they were all dressed similarly.

The short girl came out last, and she was the one who started singing the first verse. Initially, Blaine was a little confused about what song they were actually singing, but then he remembered what the girl had said – they were performing mash-ups.

As all the girls on stage were dancing in their high heels, Blaine chanced a glance at the guys around him. Predictably, Nick and Jeff were sitting close to the front, drooling, and their eyes almost falling out of their sockets. The New Directions boys were watching proudly, but, Blaine noticed, some of them seemed to be in a similar state as Nick and Jeff.

Somehow, it might've been a better idea to let the girls perform last, but there was nothing to do about that now.

Another girl was singing now, and Blaine had to admit that the group was quite good. The two songs fit together quite nicely as well.

When the girls were done, everyone applauded – and, in some cases, whistled.

"That was very impressive," Wes spoke up once the audience had quieted down a bit.

"Yeah, it was even better than the first time you performed it!" one of the New Directions boys – whom Blaine couldn't see from where he was sitting – said enthusiastically.

"Well, of course," the short brunette started, before their director started talking.

"Shall we let the Warblers perform now?"

The girls all nodded and hastily sat down, while Blaine and his teammates got up from their seats and all shuffled towards the stage. The other boys were all eagerly discussing the girls' performance, until Wes silenced them with a glare (Blaine was glad he hadn't brought his gavel). "We'll discuss their performances during our next meeting. Now, we have to focus on not letting them bring us down, but give our best. Blaine, are you ready?"

"As ready as can be," Blaine replied, forcing a confident smile on his face. He willed his body to relax as he went to stand in formation, and then, the curtains – which had been closed for a short time – opened again and the harmonising started in the background. Only a few seconds now…

As luck would have it, that was the moment his eyes found the perfect boy – Kurt, Blaine reminded himself – as he stared back at the group on stage curiously. Blaine found himself smiling widely as he started singing their rendition of _Teenage Dream_.

Kurt was eyeing their group with curious interest – or maybe that was just what Blaine made of the look in his eyes – and it made Blaine want to impress the other boy as much as possible. Deciding to just take a chance, he sang the entire first verse straight at him before letting his eyes drift over the other New Directions members as he stepped along with his teammates. They were far less interesting than Kurt, so Blaine soon looked back at him again.

Trying to hold Kurt's glance all throughout the song, Blaine found himself being more into the song than ever before. He made sure to point at the boy whenever he had to point, and if it hadn't been for the other Warblers backing him up, he might've thought that he was giving Kurt a private serenade or something. He figured it was quite an accomplishment that Kurt hadn't turned away for more than a second so far, or started whispering to one of the girls next to him. In fact, he looked rather in awe, which only made Blaine happier.

He was well aware of the fact that everyone in the room – both his friends and the other Glee club's members in the audience – might notice his fixation on Kurt, but if Kurt was smiling at him the way he was, who could blame Blaine for showing off just a little bit? Now all he could hope for was that the boy was actually gay and single.

Personally, he wouldn't mind being Kurt's teenage dream at all – but maybe not in the way the song suggested. Not yet anyway.

And perhaps he should stop thinking about this. He hadn't even spoken to the guy. That being said, Kurt _was_ the first person in the audience to jump up and start clapping after the song had ended. He was also the last person to stop clapping, causing a few of his teammates to give him odd looks.

"Wow," the director of the other group told them, "that was amazing!"

The small brunette huffed from her place next to the giant boy and crossed her arms, clearly not happy with the Warblers' performance. "Anyone can sing a Katy Perry song," she declared.

"So why didn't you?" Trent asked her from his spot behind to Blaine.

"Us girls had to sing songs originally sung by a male artist," she replied.

"Just shut up, dwarf," another girl told her, and she scoffed.

"Yeah, you just don't want to admit that our Sectionals competition is actually good this year," a blond girl added somewhat disapprovingly.

A few other members of the group looked bored, prompting Blaine to wonder if fighting was regular behaviour in this club. The director, however, seemed to have had enough.

"Okay, why don't the boys go on stage now?" he asked hurriedly, and the Warblers scurried back towards their seats. As they went, Blaine happened to pass Kurt, and the other boy looked up right as Blaine did too. Certain that he was blushing brightly, Blaine quickly walked on.

The first thought that went through Blaine's mind when they started was that it all looked pretty classic boy band like. Not that there was anything wrong with that, of course. Actually, in a way, it was pretty adorable. Well – Kurt was adorable. Blaine wasn't really paying attention to the other guys.

He did hear, however, that the boys showcased even more voices than the girls had done, and that was definitely good for the Warblers. Crossing his fingers that Kurt, too, would get a line (or maybe more), Blaine watched intently as the group on stage performed some smooth dance moves.

Okay, maybe not that smooth. But most certainly adorable, in Kurt's case.

Much to Blaine's chagrin, Kurt did not get to sing a solo part in the song. The other guys weren't bad by any means, but Blaine just would've liked to hear him sing. Perhaps, though, this meant that Kurt might have a solo at Sectionals. Suddenly, the situation didn't seem so bad anymore, and Blaine clapped as loudly as he could once the performance was over. Some of the girls were whistling at the boys as they took it all in stride.

As the New Directions coach started talking about a change in choreography, the Warblers zoned out pretty quickly, not knowing what on earth he was talking about. "They're not as good as Vocal Adrenaline," Wes muttered, and Blaine turned his head slightly. "We've still got our work cut out for us, though."

Murmurs of assent went through the group. Whereas the opposition wasn't as heavy as it had been in earlier years, there was no reason for the Warblers to sit back and assume they would win this competition. It was probably a good thing that that wasn't exactly what the Warblers were used to doing.

A few minutes later, both groups were scattered around the auditorium, individual members chatting with one another. Blaine had made a valiant attempt to reach Kurt, but he had been cornered by the short brunette and her tall, tall boyfriend before he could make it to the other boy, and now he was forced to listen to the girl drone on and on about his voice and stage presence and how she was clearly superior and why didn't the Ohio show choir board just give the Sectionals trophy to New Directions already?

He snuck a peek towards the stage, where Trent and David were seemingly joking around with Kurt and the dark skinned girl who'd had a solo during the girls' song. Sighing, he turned back to the short girl – was her name Rachel? He'd already forgotten – as he didn't want to just run off. That would be very impolite.

"So who's in charge of the Warblers?" the girl asked – the first time during the conversation that she allowed Blaine to speak. "I don't see a teacher…"

"The council is in charge," Blaine replied. "We don't have a director, it's just a group of seniors who make all the decisions – well, after consulting the rest of the group, of course."

"A group of students?" the girl asked, an interested look growing in her eyes that Blaine wasn't sure how to react to. "Where are they? Are you in the council?"

"No, I'm not," Blaine responded, slightly apprehensive now. "David's in the council." He nodded towards his friend on stage. He felt a little bad for sending this girl towards David, but what else could he do? "And… Wes and Thad." He looked around for them, only to find them already talking to New Directions' director.

"Let's go talk to them," the girl decided, dragging her boyfriend – who hadn't gotten a word in during the entire conversation – along and leaving Blaine standing there.

Hastily, Blaine walked down the remaining stairs, dodged questioning looks from a guy with a Mohawk and a blond girl and planted himself firmly next to David. "Hey, guys!" he greeted them cheerily, before smiling at Kurt and his friend.

"Hey, Blaine," David replied. "I was wondering when you'd arrive," he added in a quieter voice, and Blaine felt himself blushing. Before he could retort, however, David was already introducing him to the two New Directions members. "So, this is Blaine, as you probably already guessed. Blaine, meet Kurt and Mercedes."

"You're the one who fell off the chairs earlier, right?" the girl who'd now been identified as Mercedes asked, obviously fighting to keep a grin off of her face. "Why were you even standing on them in the first place?"

Blaine shrugged, completely conscious of the fact that _Kurt was here and looking at him curiously_. "It's just a habit," he answered. "It calms me down, I guess."

At that moment, David got a text, and he frowned at the screen. "It's an SOS from Wes." Spotting Wes (and Thad) standing with the director and the two students Blaine had just been talking to, he added, "Why would he be in trouble?"

"He's talking to Rachel," Kurt replied, as if that was explanation enough. After talking to her (or rather, being talked to by her), Blaine understood that it was indeed an explanation in itself.

David sighed. "I'll go see what he wants."

As they watched David walk off, Mercedes said, "Anyway, as we were saying, that was some pretty incredible singing up there."

"Thanks!" Blaine exclaimed, beaming happily. "Your songs were pretty great as well. What?" he added when he noticed the look on Kurt's face. "You didn't like it? Is that why you didn't have a solo?"

"It was fun to do," Kurt replied. "The other guys just don't really know how to behave around me." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Because I'm gay. They try to accept it, but they're still afraid that I'll – I don't know. But I didn't get to sing because they felt like that wasn't unusual enough, because I 'always sing girls' songs'."

"He'd rather sing with us girls," Mercedes added, sending her friend a small smile. "Not that I blame you."

Blaine, however, didn't hear what she was saying. His mind was kind of stuck on the 'I'm gay' part and he knew that he was staring openly at Kurt, who seemed a little taken aback by this.

"Are you alright?" he asked Blaine, eyeing him apprehensively.

It appeared that Trent had caught on already, which made Blaine wonder how many more Warblers had figured out his little crush on the competition. "He's probably just overly happy to meet you. For an all-boys school, Dalton doesn't have many gay students."

"Oh." Kurt's eyes grew wide, but he didn't say anything else. Mercedes, however, smiled brightly.

"Kurt's the only one out at McKinley," she informed the two Warblers. "It'd be good for him to have a gay friend, don't you think so, Kurt?"

"That's really brave of you, Kurt," Blaine said honestly, focussing primarily on Mercedes' first sentence.

Kurt looked a little flustered. "Thank you, Blaine. Forget what Mercedes said, I'm sure you wouldn't want a friend like me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Blaine asked, while Mercedes looked scandalised.

"Oh, I am certain that Blaine would _love_ to be your friend," Trent said, sending Blaine a look that showed that he was well aware of how much more Blaine wanted to be to Kurt.

"Aren't we good enough for you anymore, Blaine?" Nick's voice suddenly came from behind Blaine, who suddenly found himself with both Jeff and Nick's arms wound around his neck. It was a little suffocating.

Without waiting for an answer, Jeff said, "There are girls here, Blaine, see? Awesome, isn't it?"

"I'm gay, Jeff," Blaine said, pushing the blonde off of him before trying to do the same with Nick, who was a little more persistent. "Not interested."

"I bet you're not," Nick scoffed, glancing from Kurt to Blaine with a smirk. Luckily (for Blaine, at least), Kurt just seemed confused by this behaviour.

"You're a little girl-deprived, then?" Mercedes asked the two newcomers amusedly.

"Very much so," Jeff replied, pouting. "But, there's a lot of girls here now, so that's okay!"

"You do realise most of them have boyfriends, right?" Kurt asked.

Nick and Jeff's faces fell instantly. "Really?" Nick asked.

"There's Tina and Mike, Rachel and Finn," Kurt started, "Quinn and Sam are… dating, I guess? I'm not sure."

"They probably are," Mercedes agreed. "Then there's Brittany and Artie – "

"They're actually dating now?" Kurt asked, seeming flabbergasted. "I thought Artie was angry at her for – well, never mind. But – "

Mercedes shrugged. "Well, yeah. Last thing I heard, they were. And last but not least, there's Puck and Santana, who are definitely having sex, but I'm not sure if they're exclusive or anything."

"Probably not," Kurt said.

"And then there's us," Mercedes finished, indicating herself and Kurt. "We're kind of like the perpetual singles club in New Directions, if you don't count some ill-advised less-than-a-week-long relationships."

Blaine hoped that Mercedes wouldn't mind being in that singles club by herself.

Alright, maybe that was a little mean. And perhaps Blaine was getting a bit too far ahead of himself. Who was to say Kurt would want to date Blaine?

"Seriously, guys?" Trent asked disapprovingly, and Blaine glanced sideways in confusion. "Both of you at the same time?"

Nick and Jeff, however, paid him no mind and simply continued flirting (or rather, attempting to flirt; not that Blaine was so well-versed in that department) with Mercedes, who seemed to be rather amused the boys' attention.

"And that's my cue to leave," Trent announced, before, indeed, leaving their group to join some of the other Warblers who appeared to be laughing at some or other impression the blond guy was doing.

As Blaine looked back at Kurt, the other boy was looking after Trent with a frown. "He's…," he started, but couldn't appear to find words to finish that sentence.

"He's Trent," Blaine said, smiling. "He's… a unique guy."

"You can say that again," Kurt muttered. "But anyway, you're gay, then, right?" At Blaine's nod, he asked, "Do you read _Vogue_?"

"What kind of question is that?" Blaine exclaimed, grinning. "Of course I do!" He'd just never had anyone to discuss it with before.

Before the boys knew it, it was time for the McKinley group to head back to Lima. No one had dared disturb Blaine and Kurt's heated discussion of next year's spring collections, but Nick and Jeff had gotten some competition from other Warblers when it came to Mercedes' attention.

"It's been great meeting you," Kurt told Blaine earnestly. "Seriously, you don't know how much I needed this."

Smiling goofily, Blaine said, "Me too." Gathering all the courage he could find, he asked, "Do you think maybe we could meet up for coffee this weekend and talk some more? But only if you want, of course. If you – "

"You mean like a date?" Kurt asked, blushing heavily now.

Suddenly feeling daring, Blaine replied, "If you want it to be."

Kurt smiled bashfully. "It's a date, then."

* * *

**A/N**: Because it'd be so repetitive to finish with 'and they exchanged phone numbers blah blah'. What did you think? :) If you have any questions, comments, prompts, or anything else, please leave a review to let me know! :)


	42. The Purple Piano Project

**A/N**: So... I wasn't actually going to post this until later this week (i.e. Wednesday, as I don't post on Glee Tuesdays :P), but here you go :) The idea for this came from _flamealchemist15_ and _overwhelmedwithglee_. As for Blaine, you can choose for yourself if he's a junior or a senior here (I left that kind of vague :P), and I'm also aware that at some points, he's kind of (really) out of character :\ I'm sorry for that, but the reason I left those things in is that I really wanted them to be said (in a fanfic, that is :P).

Hopefully you'll all enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom! :)

* * *

After a summer of hard work – at Six Flags, but that didn't make the work any less hard – and taking part in a summer production at the local community theatre, Blaine was finally confident enough with his resume to attend a NYADA mixer. As soon as he'd heard of the school – almost two years ago now – he'd set his mind on attending it one day. However, he knew that applicants usually needed a killer resume, and while he _was_ part of the Warblers (and in a few other clubs at Dalton, but those didn't have anything to do with performing), he knew that he'd need a bit more. So with some more stuff to put on his resume and the prospect of at least one or two more shows at the community theatre he could try out for, he couldn't wait to meet his possible future classmates.

He was well aware that there wasn't much of a chance that he'd be seeing a lot of them if he got into NYADA, seeing as only about twenty people per year were admitted there. However, it'd be nice to speak with some like-minded people. None of the other Warblers was interested in pursuing music or theatre after school, so Blaine looked forward to meeting people who were.

Naturally, his enthusiasm made sure he was almost half an hour too early, but he didn't let that faze him. He sat down in the lounge and took the time to look around. Maybe he wasn't the only one who was early.

The next group of teenagers came fifteen minutes later, and after a short exchange with one of the people who worked at the venue, they were directed towards a room, and a sign was set up to point people towards where they needed to be. Glancing at it, Blaine wasn't sure what to think of the fact that there was also a gun show that night. Taking a deep breath, he stood up from the couch and walked towards the door the other teens had disappeared behind.

After opening the doors, Blaine quickly slipped inside and glanced around. The other teens were scattered around the room, setting something up. Blaine instantly deflated. Maybe he should've prepared a song as well? Then again, there was always next time. According to the information he'd found on the internet, this NYADA mixer took place every month.

"Hi!" A boy and a girl came running up to him, and even Blaine, who had been wildly enthusiastic for this gathering, was taken aback by their sheer excitement. "What's your name, where are you from, and what are your credits?" the girl, who introduced herself as Harmony, interrogated him.

"Well, I'm Blaine," he started, but before he could say anything else, the boy opposite him was introducing himself (his name was Gavroche and Blaine hadn't needed his little explanation of sorts about where that name came from).

"We're still setting up everything for our number," Harmony told him, wide smile still in place. "We've been preparing it for a little while. Thank god you're here now to watch and give some criticisms – if you can find any. We need to be up to par, otherwise we're never going to make it into NYADA." The two then led Blaine towards a couple of seats conveniently facing the stage, that was apparently still there from a bar mitzvah or whatever Harmony said it was. Before he knew it, he was alone again, as the others bustled around on stage, occasionally glancing at him. Whether they were curious to see if he wasn't running away yet or there was another reason entirely, Blaine didn't know.

By the time the group was putting the finishing touches to their preparation, Blaine had become slightly bored. Yes, he'd expected some singing to be done, but he'd also thought people would just be milling around the room, talking to each other about their dreams and hopes, about what they'd already done, showbiz-wise, and either trying to bring each other down or give tips for future improvement.

These kids, however, already seemed to know each other quite well, making Blaine the odd one out.

At that moment, a quiet giggle came from behind Blaine, and he turned around, only to be met by the sight of a boy and a girl looking around. Blaine strongly suspected that they, too, were new, or at least, not as close to the other people in the room. Then again, at least they knew each other.

Like Blaine had expected, they, too, were immediately assaulted by Harmony, Gavroche, and two others (who named their child Pendleton or Canada anyway?). Blaine watched with great interest as the two newcomers seemed to be caught off guard even more than he had been; that was, until they were dragged over to where he was and sat down on the chairs next to him.

The girl said something about having prepared a number as well, but Harmony ignored her in favour of instructing her friends to take their places, so _they_ could start their number. Blaine would definitely have to get used to making sure he wasn't walked over the entire time if he wanted a chance at getting into NYADA and making it there, he realised. The boy and girl next to him looked pretty uncomfortable, at any rate, and suddenly, Blaine realised that they were dressed in the same fashion as the teens who were now gathering on the stage. Once more, Blaine felt like the odd one out. Oh well. At least he'd dressed in casual clothing, instead of his Dalton uniform.

Blaine had to admit, these kids were good. While he was certain that the performance could be improved here and there, it was still rather impressive, especially in front of a mostly unsuspecting audience.

He was the only one clapping after the performance (so he stopped clapping pretty quickly), as the boy next to him seemed pretty shaken by the sudden fire-or-whatever-it-was. As for the girl, it was as if she was nearly petrified.

"So, Blaine, any criticisms?" Harmony asked, and Blaine could feel over a dozen pairs of eyes on him.

"Not off the top of my head, sorry," he managed to say. "It was… great."

Harmony smirk couldn't have been larger or it would've literally split her face in two. "We're just going to go freshen up," she told them. "We'll see you in a few minutes."

They'd just left when the girl two seats down from Blaine said, "Come on, Kurt. Let's just get out of here."

"You're leaving? Already?" Blaine blurted out as the two got up. "Why?"

"Didn't you see them?" the girl exclaimed. "They were amazing. There's no way we could ever beat them, let alone so many more applicants. I'm surprised you haven't run out yet, you don't seem like NYADA material to me at all."

Blaine narrowed his eyes slightly. "Didn't you just say you didn't know about NYADA before Monday? What makes you think you know who's NYADA material and who isn't? And yes, they were good. Clearly, they're also better than you, or you wouldn't be running away right now. NYADA isn't just about being good at singing and performing. You also need a drive, the right attitude. You have to show that you really want it. And honestly? If you're going to leave now, I don't know if you've got what it takes. Running out now isn't going to make you better. Talking to them and finding out how they got where they are now – that could help you." The girl looked rather affronted, but the boy was eyeing him closely. "If you're planning to run out of auditions the moment someone's on stage who's better than you, you'll never get anywhere. Yes, there'll always be people out there who are better than you, but if you let that get to you, you're going to stop trying at some point and never achieve your dreams."

"He's got a point," the boy told his friend, who crossed her arms and looked away with a huff. After glancing towards the stage warily, he sat back down. "So is this your first time coming here as well?"

"Uh – yeah, it is," Blaine replied. "I first heard of NYADA almost two years ago, but this mixer didn't exist back then. Plus, I wanted to make sure I had a bit of a resume before I came, both to compare it with others and to be certain that this is definitely what I want to do."

"So what's on your… resume?" the girl asked, shooting her friend one last betrayed look before sitting down as well.

"Not too much," Blaine responded modestly. "I'm in my school's show choir and a handful of other clubs, and this summer, I was in a community theatre play and performed at Six Flags a couple of days a week."

"We're also in a show choir," the girl told him. "We even made it to Nationals last year."

Blaine watched them carefully. "That means you're either in Vocal Adrenaline or New Directions, right? Then again, if you really attend Carmel, you're horribly off course, aren't you? And you wouldn't have been so easily intimidated by a group of good performers, because I'd think you were used to having to compete with a lot of others."

"He's good," the boy told his friend, and Blaine felt the corners of his mouth twitch upwards.

"Are you saying we don't have to compete with others much?" the girl asked him.

Before Blaine could reply, however, the boy said, "_You_ don't. The rest of us do. You only need to storm out or throw a fit and all the solos are yours."

"Seriously?" Wow, Blaine definitely hadn't known that. "I don't know a whole lot about Broadway auditions, but I doubt you'll get roles by throwing fits."

Now, the girl stood up again and stomped off, her friend watching her go worriedly. "I hope she knows she can't actually leave," he commented. "She _was_ my ride here, but I've got the car keys." He patted the side of the bag he'd been carrying around earlier. "Anyway, Mr Show Choir Whisperer, do you have a name, too?"

Shaking his head, Blaine smiled and said, "I'm Blaine. And that term seems a little… weird, here, doesn't it?"

"Good thing I can call you Blaine now, right?" the boy asked, sounding a little bit peeved.

Sending the boy the most charming smile he could muster, Blaine asked, "So what can I call you?"

"Kurt," the boy introduced himself. "What school did you say you go to?"

"I didn't," Blaine said. "But I go to Dalton."

"The Warblers," Kurt said without missing a beat. "I was wondering why you looked so familiar, but you're their lead soloist, aren't you?"

"Guilty as charged," Blaine grinned. After a pause, he asked, "How come you'd never heard of NYADA before? Didn't you want to go into performing arts earlier?"

"Oh, we did," Kurt replied. "I don't even know. We'd had our sights set on Julliard."

"But Julliard doesn't have a musical theatre program," Blaine pointed out, and Kurt nodded.

"Yeah, we heard that on Monday. Don't ask me why we didn't look into that before. If the guidance counsellor hadn't told us, we would've found out while applying, I'm sure."

Blaine frowned slightly. "Okay…"

Kurt just smiled apologetically, but at that moment, the other teens came back in, Harmony at the front, as was to be expected.

"Didn't that Rachel girl say you had something prepared as well?" she asked Kurt.

"She wasn't feeling very well," Kurt seemed to improvise on the spot. "She went to sit out in the lobby for a bit. I don't think we'll be able to perform our song tonight."

"That's too bad," Harmony responded, before turning to Blaine. "What about you, Blaine? Are you going to showcase your talents tonight?"

"I think I'll pass as well," Blaine replied. "Maybe next time."

"So you'll come back next time?" another girl asked, smiling happily – though Blaine wasn't sure if she did that because of his comment or because she liked to smile. Most people here hadn't stopped smiling for more than a few seconds since Blaine had come in.

"Probably?" Blaine answered. "If I've got nothing else planned…"

"Perfect," Harmony butted back into the conversation. "I can't wait to hear you both sing. As a matter of fact – you can even hit the stage now if you want! A good performer is always prepared!"

"Yes, but we only just met," Kurt countered. "We haven't really had time yet to discuss performance options."

She smiled sweetly. "It's okay to be intimidated by us. Well, make sure you can perform next time."

As she finally skipped off (with the others in her wake), Kurt and Blaine exchanged exasperated glances. "NYADA will be an interesting experience if it's filled with girls like her," Kurt muttered.

Blaine nodded in agreement. "I suspect that she'll personally hunt us down if we don't actually go to the next mixer."

"I'm not sure what I expected from this mixer, but this wasn't it," Kurt said. "Most of them already know each other. I wonder if they actually think they can all make it into NYADA."

"That's probably just to trick us," Blaine replied. "They act like a close-knit group in front of strangers, but there's probably a lot of in-fighting."

Kurt chuckled. "Sounds like another group of people I know."

"I didn't think I would get to hear some show choir secrets tonight," Blaine said. "Do tell me more."

"The only thing I could tell you is that we are going to win the Nationals trophy this year," Kurt said lightly, sending a smirk Blaine's way.

Blaine laughed at that. "Oh, I don't think so," he said. "Rumour has it the Warblers are actually even better than last year. We are _so_ going to beat you."

"Dream on, Warbler," Kurt challenged.

"Maybe we should have taken up Harmony's offer and done a sing-off," Blaine mused. "Do you think it's too late for that?"

"Please," Kurt scoffed playfully, "I could beat you with my eyes closed."

"Oh yeah? I could beat you with my _mouth_ closed," Blaine countered, then started laughing as he saw the look on Kurt's face.

"I must admit, you're doing a very nice job at shooting down Dalton's reputation," Kurt told him.

"I would say, 'right back at you,' but…"

"Yeah, I know. McKinley doesn't have a stellar reputation to begin with."

Suddenly realising that they had quickly brushed past the topic earlier on, Blaine asked, "What are your credits, by the way?" he asked curiously. "Besides show choir, I mean."

Kurt sighed. "I guess I don't really have any yet, besides the Glee club," he muttered. "Maybe if there's time and money, there'll be a school musical, but other than that… my resume is painfully empty."

"You've never been in a play before?" Blaine asked. "No other clubs besides New Directions?"

"I haven't been in any play since elementary school," Kurt responded. "As for clubs… I played football for a few weeks during sophomore year… and I was on the school's cheerleading squad for a few months too."

"Cheerleading is performing, too, right?" Blaine asked. "Were you any good?"

"We won Nationals for the fifth time in a row that year," Kurt replied. Narrowing his eyes, he asked, "Are you saying I should put that on my resume?"

"You'd be crazy if you didn't," Blaine said. "Maybe you could even ask your old coach for a letter of recommendation?"

"Oh, no," Kurt immediately said, shaking his head. "I don't think that's a good idea. Coach Sylvester isn't really a big fan of the arts. You'll know her," he added. "She's on TV a lot. She's running for congress, too, now, and she was actually the coach of Aural Intensity at Regionals."

"The one who punched the governor's wife?" Blaine asked, suddenly feeling like Kurt's idea not to ask her for a recommendation would be for the best. Kurt nodded sagely. "Still, I'd put the cheerleading thing on your resume. It can't hurt, right?"

"Thanks for the tip," Kurt said, smiling slightly. "I'll keep it in mind. I'm afraid I don't have any advice for you in return, though."

"I'll just have to make sure the Warblers beat New Directions at Sectionals or Regionals," Blaine said. "I suppose then we could call it even."

"You'd better come up with something else, because that's not going to happen," Kurt said resolutely. "Oh – " He grabbed his phone from his bag. "That's Rachel. She really wants to go now." He looked up at Blaine. "Sorry."

"That's fine," Blaine replied. "I should get going soon as well. Westerville's still quite a drive away."

After saying a quick goodbye to the others and only waving at Harmony from a distance (before they'd get roped into another lengthy conversation with the girl), the boys walked out of the room. The girl – Rachel, most likely – was already standing impatiently.

"We have to go back next month," Kurt told her before she could say anything.

"Why?" she asked, grabbing Kurt's arm and dragging him towards the exit. Blaine had to walk fast to keep up with them.

"Harmony demanded to hear us sing, and she seems to be a lot like you – not taking no for an answer and able to personally drag us here if we don't show."

Rachel scoffed. "We'll see about that," she muttered. "Where do you have the keys?"

"Right here." After giving Rachel the car keys (the girl instantly walked away with them), Kurt turned towards Blaine. "Were you really planning on going next month?"

Blaine shrugged. "I had a pretty good time. Are you going?"

Kurt seemed to have to bite back a smile. "We still have to give them that performance, don't we?"

"We kind of do," Blaine agreed.

"Give me your phone," Kurt said. "Text me, and we'll figure something out, alright?"

Blaine grinned. "Sounds great. I'll see you next month, then."

* * *

**A/N**: Sooo... what do you think? :) If you have any questions/comments/prompts, let me know, please review!


	43. Bad Reputation

**A/N**: So... this is a somewhat depressing chapter, at least, in my head it is. I'm not sure if you feel the same way about it :\ Oh well. It was prompted by _WishesintheNightSky_, but I'm actually pretty sure this wasn't quite how they envisioned this chapter to be :P I suppose it could be set at any point in last part of the first season, but I figured that in this episode, there would be less going on for Kurt (and Mercedes, who I put in here before realising she quit near the end of _Laryngitis_, so this would have to take place before then) than at other times. I'm not quite sure what basketball games are like, so I kind of glossed over all of that. And in regards to something Blaine said in SLS (I think?), I obviously deviated from canon there as well. You'll know. I think.

One last thing (if you're still reading :P): for a future chapter I need (a) song(s) that Blaine could sing at Burt&Carole's wedding. So, something not too inappropriate and a song that already existed in November 2010. If you've got any suggestions, please let me know! I'm kind of bad at stuff like that :P

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and please review when you reach the bottom! :)

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"You're coming to the game tonight, right?"

Blaine glanced up from his book and smiled. "Of course, Jeff. You've asked me the same question half a dozen times already. And that's just today."

Jeff smiled bashfully. "I guess I just want to be sure."

"What kind of person would I be if I wasn't even going to see my boyfriend's most important basketball match of the season?" Blaine asked rhetorically.

With another smile, Jeff sank down next to Blaine on the couch. "What are you reading? You're not studying, are you?"

Blaine shrugged. "I obviously can't study tonight, what with your game and the subsequent victory party, now can I?"

Jeff hummed, putting his head on Blaine's shoulder, and Blaine hesitantly went back to his reading. It was still so scary, so new. Jeff was Blaine's first boyfriend, and they'd only been together for a little over a week. Still, Blaine definitely enjoyed every minute of it.

Almost ten minutes later, though, Blaine hadn't absorbed anything, so he attempted to push Jeff off of him as gently as possible. When the other boy let out a soft whine, Blaine rolled his eyes affectionately. "I need to read all this for my History essay," he said. "You're distracting me."

"Fine," Jeff mock-huffed. "I'll go see if Nick wants to play Call of Duty with me." After giving Blaine a quick peck, he was out of the room, and Blaine looked down at his book once more. This would be so much easier if he'd actually taken notes in class the past week, instead of dreamily watching the back of Jeff's head and doodling all of the page.

o-o-o-o-o

That night, Blaine was clad in the Dalton school colours as he made his way towards the gym. He knew this would be an important game, but he had no idea what to expect from the other team. He hadn't really thought to ask, and it wasn't as if he knew that much about basketball anyway.

"Hey, lover boy!" someone shouted, and Blaine whirled around. True enough, Nick and Wes were waving him over from their spot in the stands.

"Could you stop calling me that?" he asked Nick once he'd reached them, but the other boy just shook his head.

"Seriously," David commented, shooting Nick a look, "if I wouldn't be a witness of your straightness almost every day, I'd start wondering."

Blaine silently agreed. When he'd first arrived at Dalton, he'd thought Nick and Jeff were together – at least, until he met Nick's then-girlfriend a couple of hours later. In retrospect, he was very thankful that Nick wasn't gay.

"Does anyone know if the other team's any good?" he asked his friends.

"From what I've heard, they aren't," Wes replied, shooting a glance towards the floor. "There aren't many good sports players at that school, so most of them kind of do everything. Once the football season is over, they take up basketball. When that's over, they take up… I don't know."

Blaine nodded. A similar situation had existed at his former school.

"And even if they were any good," Nick continued, glancing at Blaine with a slight smirk, "I bet it wouldn't matter anyway. Jeff will probably be on fire tonight because he feels the need to impress Blaine."

Blaine felt himself blushing. "He knows he doesn't have to do that," he muttered without looking at anyone, but facing the gym floor instead.

"Prepare to be impressed anyway," Nick told him. "Oh, hey, it's starting."

Blaine watched as both teams appeared, and felt another blush coming up when Jeff caught his eye and grinned. He waved shyly, causing Nick to laugh next to him, but he didn't care. He wasn't exactly in love with Jeff (yet?), but he didn't think he could've picked a better first boyfriend.

He tried to keep track of what was happening, but even though this wasn't the first game of basketball he'd ever watched (he'd seen all the previous games as well, seeing as the Warblers council seemed to see these matches as some sort of field trip), soon, he had no idea what was happening anymore. Still, he was determined to cheer Jeff on as best as he could, so he clapped loudly every time his boyfriend scored or was about to score. Nick had been correct when he'd assumed that Jeff would be on fire: he seemed to have even more energy than he normally did, and Blaine was certain that he could've beaten the entire opposing team on his own if he had to.

Before he knew, it was halftime, and while Blaine kind of wanted to go and see Jeff, he knew that he couldn't. Reluctantly staying in his seat, Blaine tried to follow his friends' conversation. That was, until movement on the gym floor caught his eye.

"Are those cheerleaders?" he asked, cutting off David as he was recounting one of Jeff's best manoeuvres of the first half.

"Dalton doesn't have cheerleaders," Wes pointed out, before turning to the floor as well and gaping.

"Obviously, the other school _does_," Nick said, already letting his eyes rake over the assembling girls.

Right when Blaine was about to comment on this action, he caught someone's eye. A male cheerleader was blinking back at him, and for a moment, Blaine relished in the contact. When the corners of the other boy's mouth rose, however, Blaine was brought out of his stupor and quickly looked away. He wasn't sure what had just happened, but he didn't want to dwell on it for too long. He had a boyfriend, after all, and he didn't think that eyeing another guy – who, admittedly, was attractive enough – was a good idea, especially so early on in their relationship.

Then he realised that the cheerleaders hadn't even actually _performed_ yet.

By now, the cheerleaders had all taken their places, and Blaine realised that there were, in fact, a few male cheerleaders on the squad. However, most of them were standing at the back, and none of them were quite as gorgeous as the one Blaine had just caught himself staring at.

He should really stop this. If not, he'd end up feeling incredibly guilty even though he technically hadn't done anything.

As it turned out, the boy he'd just exchanged looks with was there to sing, along with the girl next to him. Blaine didn't recognise the song, but he did know that they were really good. The other cheerleaders performed an intricate looking choreography, and the two singers occasionally danced along. For the most part, however, they appeared to be doing a routine that didn't have much to do with what the rest of the squad was doing.

"They're amazing," Nick breathed from next to him, and as Blaine glanced sideways, he noticed that his friend's eyes constantly went from cheerleader to cheerleader, never resting on the same girl for longer than two seconds.

"They are," he agreed slightly hesitantly. It didn't help that the male singer was shooting him glances every time Blaine happened to look his way. He liked to think it was a mere coincidence, but deep down, he knew well enough that it wasn't.

He shifted in his seat uncomfortably, and his mind immediately strayed. What would he have done if he hadn't been dating Jeff now? The answer to that question was terrifyingly simple; he would've stayed behind or tried to find another way to get in touch with this boy. From the looks of him, he was probably gay, and he was attractive and a great singer.

But he _was_ dating Jeff, and he was happy. Even before they'd started dating, they'd been friends; they knew each other, and Blaine liked his boyfriend for who he was, inside and out. He didn't know this boy, what he was like. For all Blaine knew, the boy could be a typical bitchy cheerleader who played all the guys he came across, gay, bi, or straight.

Plus, this boy was no Jeff.

That did it. Blaine _liked_ Jeff and wanted to be with him. He wasn't going to screw things up because of a good-looking guy he'd never even spoken to.

Not that he'd been planning to, of course, but this sealed the deal. When this game was over, Blaine was going to leave, make up an excuse for Jeff in case he asked why he'd left early, and get rid of any thoughts about this cheerleader. Which, he imagined, couldn't be all that hard. As pointed out before, he had Jeff as his boyfriend.

So he tried his best not to change any more looks towards the boy, lest he get the wrong idea. This was made rather difficult because of the fact that the boy was dancing around the gym floor, and the girls weren't much to look at either, in Blaine's opinion. The routine in itself, though, was virtually flawless, and Blaine wished he could've enjoyed it more.

Then, the performance was over, much to the dislike of most of the audience. The cheerleaders retreated to the side, and the two basketball teams walked back in. Blaine's eyes instantly found Jeff, and now, he didn't feel awkward when he found himself being stared back at.

As had become obvious in the first part of the game, the other team was still no match for Dalton. A great cheerleading squad their school might have, but their basketball team sucked. Therefore, it wasn't a very big surprise that Dalton's team won with a bigger difference in points than they'd ever had before. Blaine knew they'd probably be celebrating this all night long.

It was a good thing he'd done his homework when he had, no matter what Jeff had said.

While both teams were ushered towards their respective changing rooms, the people in the audience all started leaving, and Blaine was wondering whether he, too, should leave already, or if he should stay behind and wait for Jeff. Having never had a boyfriend before, he was completely new to what he was supposed to do in situations like this. Yes, before, he had decided to just leave already to avoid potentially awkward situations, but now he wasn't so certain anymore. He suspected that normally, he was supposed to wait, but then again, he'd only be going to the dorms, which weren't exactly far away.

"Are you sticking around for Jeff?" David suddenly asked, and Blaine noticed with a start that his friends had all stood up as well.

"Uh," he started, "I guess?"

Wes clapped his shoulder. "We'll see you later, then. Come on, guys."

Blaine figured he might as well get off the bleachers already, but just as he stepped onto the floor, he heard a voice. And seeing as he was the only one left in the gym, they were probably talking to him.

Whirling around, he saw that it was the female singer from the cheerleading squad, now dressed in street clothes. "Uh – hi?" he said uncertainly, not knowing what she could possibly want from him.

She just smirked and beckoned to someone behind her. Naturally, it was the male cheerleader. To his credit, he looked a bit uncomfortable about being here, facing Blaine, as he moved towards his friend slowly.

"Enjoy your talk, boys," the girl said, smiling as she walked away.

Both boys watched her go, and finally, the other boy said, "Hi."

"Hey." If this wasn't the most awkward thing Blaine had ever gone through, he didn't know what it was. "Your… performance was really good."

"You think?" The other boy smiled nervously. "Thanks. I'm Kurt, by the way."

Blaine shook his outstretched hand. "Blaine."

There was an awkward silence that Blaine wasn't sure how to break. In the end, Kurt was the first to crack.

"So… are you a big fan of the game?" he asked curiously. "You seemed pretty into it, from what I could see…" He paused. "Oh, wow, that sounds really creepy."

Blaine smiled flatly, figuring that now was as good a time as ever. "To be honest, I don't know much about basketball," he confessed. "But my boyfriend was playing, so…"

He was certain that, if Kurt's eyes became any bigger, they might consume his entire face. "Your – oh, okay. Right." Kurt chuckled embarrassedly. "Your boyfriend was – yeah. That makes sense." Both Kurt's arms were wrapped around his middle now and Blaine stood there just feeling uneasy about the entire situation. He hated it when people felt bad about something he'd said or done. "Figures, right? First gay guy my age I meet and he's got a boyfriend. Of course, why wouldn't you have a boyfriend?"

"Sorry," Blaine muttered. "Really, I didn't mean – "

"Don't," Kurt told him, more forceful than Blaine would've thought him to be at this moment. "Don't be sorry, seriously." He sighed and smiled sadly at Blaine. "So, who was it?"

"What?" Blaine asked, slightly confused.

Kurt gave him another embarrassed smile. "Your boyfriend," he elaborated. "Which one was it?"

"Oh." Blaine smiled happily before realising what had just gone down between him and Kurt. "Jeff. The tall blond one?"

"The one who kept scoring?" Kurt inquired. "Good catch. Both of you, actually."

"Jeff's pretty great," Blaine agreed.

"That doesn't sound too enthusiastic," Kurt observed. "Sorry. Not my business."

Blaine nodded somewhat vaguely. "This is just… kind of an awkward conversation, don't you think?"

This time, Kurt's laugh sounded relieved. "Yeah. Yes, I definitely agree with that." He sighed again. "Do you think your boyfriend would mind if we met up some time? Just to talk, of course, I promise. It would be… interesting, to share experiences, and all that, with someone who's gay too, I think, if you want." He seemed to be slowly shrinking as he spoke. "You can even bring your boyfriend, if you want. The more the merrier, right?"

"I'm not – I'm not sure if that would be a good idea," Blaine said awkwardly. He couldn't flat out say no, and if Kurt would press the matter, Blaine would, most likely, give in eventually. He was all for helping troubled gay teens, not unlike himself, but now was really not the best time for it. God, he was being very egotistical now, wasn't he? Maybe he should just say yes anyway, consequences be doomed.

"Of course," Kurt said, nodding. "That's okay, I get it." He shifted on his feet. "I'll just – oh."

"Hey, Blaine!" Jeff greeted him happily, wrapping an arm around him, and Blaine really couldn't help the smile forming on his face now. "Oh – hi. You're one of those cheerleaders, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am," Kurt confirmed. "I was just – leaving. Uh – bye!"

Jeff looked at Blaine questioningly. "What did he want?"

Blaine shrugged. "We were just… talking. About the game." He didn't know why he was lying – probably because he didn't want Jeff to get any wrong ideas – but he hoped he was somewhat convincing. "Come on," he continued, tugging at his boyfriend's arm. "I assume we've got a party to attend?"

Jeff grinned widely. "We sure do!" As he recounted one of his most spectacular goals, the pair walked out of the gym as well, no longer thinking about the boy on the cheerleading squad with the wonderful voice and the sad eyes.

* * *

**A/N**: So. I wasn't sure how to feel about this :\ But let me know what you think, please leave a review! :)


	44. Born this way III

**A/N**: So, after a somewhat depressive chapter 43, this one is a little lighter (partly thanks to, I'd say , Warbler Trent). I don't really have an awful lot to say this time, so... rejoice! This was prompted by _Bluebeanie_ and _OhhhSkyler_, and I hope it lives up to your expectations :)

Hopefully, you'll enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom :)

* * *

"I can't believe you dragged us all the way to Lima to buy _socks_, Blaine," David commented, sounding appalled. Blaine shot his friend an apologetic look before turning back towards the socks. Yes, maybe he was being a little overdramatic, but he happened to like the Lima mall. Plus, there was no way he was going to buy socks at the Gap in Westerville. He still wasn't over that debacle yet.

"You didn't have to come with," he therefore said.

"You said you were going to the mall," Nick said as he carelessly looked through various shirts he didn't need and would never buy anyway. "We didn't have anything to do, so we figured we might as well come. But you never mentioned it was the mall in Lima, which is an hour and a half away from Dalton! Where did you get that idea?"

Blaine shrugged, having found some socks that should fit. Maybe he'd better buy some more, though, just in case. Besides, one could never have enough socks. "My parents don't live too far from here. I come here a lot during the summer." He ruffled through the socks in search for more pairs. "Okay, maybe not a lot. But often enough."

When he didn't get an answer, he looked around and stared. He wasn't the only one, though.

"Trent, what on earth are you wearing?" Wes asked, sounding a little irked.

Said boy didn't reply, just did a twirl so they could all see his new outfit better.

"I'm pretty sure my twelve year old sister owns the same hat," Nick commented, and Trent looked affronted.

"You're not thinking about buying that, right?" Wes asked. "Because there's no way you can still claim you're straight if you do."

"Are you saying I regularly walk around in clothes like that?" Blaine asked him, looking from Trent to Wes and back. "If you do, I may have to take offense." He might not be the most fashionable gay guy around, but even he could see that first of all, the colours clashed, and second of all, the outfit was horribly outdated. "I'm just going to buy these socks." One could never go wrong with socks – unless they had lace on them or something – especially since Blaine usually wore the Dalton uniform. It wasn't hard to find matching socks for that.

After he'd paid for the socks, Blaine walked back to where his friends had been before. Now, however, they were gone. They were probably just waiting outside, though, Blaine realised, but before he could go after them, he heard, "Blaine! Wait up."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Trent jogging towards him as quickly as the clothing racks spread around the store let him. "So you didn't buy those clothes, then?" he asked, immediately noticing the lack of bags in his friend's hands.

"Of course not," Trent replied. "It was just for fun. Not my fault you guys took it so seriously."

They found their friends a few shops down, looking at some technical stuff Blaine didn't know an awful lot about. As he waited for his friends to finish looking, Blaine glanced around at all the other people in the mall. It looked like a group was gathering downstairs, and right when he looked back around, he saw a very familiar girl.

"Hey, Wes," he muttered quietly, lest the girl or her friend heard him, "isn't that that girl from New Directions?"

"Could be," Wes replied without looking around. "We're in Lima, after all, which is where their school is."

Blaine inched a little further away from his friends to see what was going on, and by now, the girl and boy had reached another boy (from whom Trent, and probably everyone Blaine knew, including himself, could take some fashion advice) who quickly dismissed the first boy. He couldn't hear the conversation very well, but he knew Barbra Streisand was somehow involved. But this was a mall in Ohio, right? Why would she be here? That made absolutely no sense.

Blaine glanced down again, and wasn't really surprised to see that the group gathering downstairs had only grown. The mohawked boy who'd just brought the girl here was standing next to what had to be some sort of jukebox, and suddenly – Blaine suspected that maybe the other boy had given him a sign – there was a lot of music. Loud music.

"What's going on?" Nick was now standing next to Blaine and both boys gaped down, where, naturally, even more people were gathering.

Blaine glanced sideways for a second and stared. "I think it's a flash mob?" he said uncertainly. People at their floor were also getting involved, and the boy who'd just been talking to that girl was now moving his hips and – okay. Blaine lost all rational thought for a moment.

It was a good thing, though, that they were already standing near the railings, as it suddenly became a very popular place to stand for the people who weren't involved in this mob.

"What are they doing?" Blaine looked around to find Wes and David standing behind him.

"A flash mob," he repeated. "I'm not sure why, but I think it may have something to do with New Directions."

"Too bad we're already out of the competition this season," David said, and Blaine silently agreed. This was, after all, the perfect way to spy on the competition. Then again, the Warblers weren't really spies. They preferred to play fair.

By now, the group on the escalator had arrived downstairs, including the girl and the boy, and they started dancing there. A few unsuspecting shoppers seemed caught off guard for a moment, but they didn't seem irritated. In fact, some of them even joined in.

Then, suddenly, more people Blaine suddenly recognised as being in New Directions also walked forward, and –

"Is that Trent?" Nick asked, sounding slightly exasperated.

"It wouldn't surprise me," Wes replied. "Where?"

Nick pointed, and indeed, Trent had managed to find his way down and was now dancing along, even though he obviously didn't know the steps.

"We should take him out more," David suggested. "This is an entirely different side of him that I've never seen before…"

So for Trent's sake, Nick had already whipped out his phone to film the remainder of the flash mob. Blaine had to admit, it looked like a lot of fun. Maybe he should've joined in too when he had the chance.

When the song was over, everyone cheered for the dancers, Blaine and his friends included. "That looked pretty cool," Nick commented. "We should do more flash mobs."

"Do you remember what happened the last time we performed in public without it being a competition?" Wes asked, and Blaine quickly glanced the other way. Yes, that had been quite the disaster.

"We could do flash mobs at Dalton," Nick suggested. "Instead of telling people we're going to perform, we just perform in between classes. Maybe in the cafeteria, during lunch! And everyone can dance along!"

"I'm afraid that wouldn't really do our reputation much good." Clearly, Wes didn't like the idea very much.

By now, they'd arrived downstairs, but Trent was nowhere to be seen. Looking back up to where they'd just stood, they didn't see their friend either.

"Awesome," David muttered, looking around furiously. "Where'd he go? He can't be that far away."

"We'll just split up and look for him," Wes decided. "Blaine, you're staying here, in case he comes back. David and I will go back upstairs while Nick searches the stores on this floor."

Blaine wondered why he was the one who had to stay where he was, but he obeyed anyway. If Wes was to come back and he wasn't here… well, Blaine wasn't exactly keen on finding out what would happen. Hopefully, though, it wouldn't take them too long.

Wait. Why didn't they just text Trent to find out where he was? Blaine took out his phone to send a message, only to find out that he had no signal here. Great.

"Why are you mad at your phone?" someone suddenly asked, and Blaine looked up instantly, not realising that someone was approaching him. It was a blond girl that he _thought_ was a New Directions member, though he couldn't be sure. "Did it get infected with little ants, too?" She actually looked worried, but Blaine had no idea what she was talking about. "When mine did, I tried to take it apart to get them out, but then I couldn't figure out how to put it back together anymore, so now I don't have a phone."

"Uh – " Blaine started, alarmed, but luckily, he didn't have to think of an answer that would fit that question. A boy in a wheelchair came up to them and smiled apologetically.

"Come on, Brittany," he said. "Didn't you say you wanted to go to the pet shop to see if they have something to make Lord Tubbington stop smoking?"

The girl nodded enthusiastically, and waved at Blaine before pushing the boy's wheelchair away.

"That was weird," Blaine muttered to himself, and he heard a chuckle coming from his right.

"That was Brittany." It was the boy who'd led the flash mob, and Blaine smiled.

"As in, that's normal behaviour for her?"

"Yeah, it is," the boy replied, looking Blaine up and down. "You're the lead Warbler, aren't you?" When Blaine nodded, surprised, the boy continued, "I thought I recognised you. I didn't expect to see you in Lima, though."

"My parents live in Lima," Blaine explained. "So I kind of know this place. Plus, there was an incident earlier this year that makes it almost impossible for me to shop in the Westerville Mall." Now, the boy looked concerned, so Blaine quickly added, "I… kind of made a fool out of myself. That's all."

"Good thing Rachel didn't see you here," the boy told him. "She would've thought you were spying, even though you're not competition anymore. It's kind of a reflex for her, you see…"

"Right." From what he was hearing, New Directions was rather insane. "Was it your idea, by the way? The flash mob? It was pretty awesome."

The boy smiled at the compliment. "Thank you. And yes, it was actually my idea. I was just lucky the others wanted to help."

"What was it for, though?" Blaine questioned. "Practice for Nationals?"

"Not really, no," the boy responded. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before saying, "I'm not sure if I should tell you. Personal issues from one of the members. We needed to hold an intervention."

"Sounds serious," Blaine couldn't help but comment. "But I get it. Where'd all your friends go, though?"

The other boy made a vague hand gesture. "They all had stuff to do the rest of the day," he replied. "And Rachel discovered there _was_ actually as Macy's sale going on."

Blaine frowned slightly, deep in thought. "Maybe that's where Trent ran of to," he muttered, and again, the boy heard him anyway.

"What?" Now it was his turn to be confused.

"One of the guys who came here with me," Blaine clarified. "Somehow, he got involved in your flash mob, but when the rest of the group got downstairs, he was gone."

The two talked for another five minutes or so – Blaine found out the boy was actually called Kurt and introduced himself to him as well – and still, there was no sign of any of Blaine's friends. He looked around again, but didn't see them. He did, however, see a Starbucks. He hadn't had coffee in hours, and he realised only now that he was craving it.

"Blaine? Are you still here?" Kurt gave him an apprehensive look.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Blaine shook his head. "Hey, look, I'm sorry for asking, but do you think you could stay here for a minute while I go and get myself a coffee? I'm kind of in need of a caffeine fix now."

Kurt turned around for a moment. "I could go get some, if that works too," he offered. "I'd like some coffee as well, personally."

Blaine was already taking out his wallet and no matter how much Kurt protested that he didn't need to pay for both coffees, Blaine insisted. "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't still be here," he said, and Kurt shot him an exasperated look.

"Seriously?" he asked. "If I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't be here anymore either. I mean," he swiftly added, "if I really didn't want to be talking to you, I wouldn't have bothered."

"Just take it," Blaine said, and apparently, Kurt realised that there was no way Blaine was going to let this go.

Within two minutes, he was back, with coffee. They stood in silence as they drank; that was, until Kurt commented, "It's pretty good coffee. Not as good as the Lima Bean's, but it'll do."

"You know the Lima Bean?" Blaine asked excitedly. "I love that place! They've got the best coffee in all of Ohio!" Before he could restrain himself, he asked, "Maybe we could meet up there some time! You're the only person I know who goes for coffee there!" Realising his mistake, he tried to save himself by saying, "Sorry, I really shouldn't have – just ignore what I just said, okay?"

Kurt, whose eyes had grown almost comically wide at first, now just smiled at him. "It's alright. And just for the record, I wouldn't have minded going for coffee with you."

"Oh." Blaine blinked stupidly. "Well, in that case, that's great! Could I – give you my number, or something?"

Kurt hid a smile behind his coffee cup, but not well enough for Blaine not to catch it anyway. "Sure," he replied. "It makes the whole meeting up thing a bit easier if we can discuss _when_ to meet up there, doesn't it?"

In the middle of putting his contact information in Kurt's phone, Blaine suddenly noticed something approaching. Or rather, someone.

"Trent?" he exclaimed, as he handed Kurt his phone back. "What are you – where have you – the guys are looking all over the place for you!"

Trent gave Kurt a once-over before turning to Blaine and replying, "I had to use the restroom. As did, apparently, all the guys who took part in that flash-mob, and to top it all off, only one toilet actually worked. There was a line in front of the men's room. There's _never_ a line in front of the men's room."

"Okay, so, what now?" Blaine asked, looking around frantically.

"Should I go find the guys?" Trent asked, seeming unperturbed by the fact that his friends had set up a searching squad for him.

"Just – stay here," Blaine replied after a few seconds. "They'll come back eventually."

Kurt cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I guess I'll just – go, then."

"Oh." Blaine hadn't really counted on that. In fact, he found he quite liked the other boy's company. "We'll talk soon, right?"

Kurt smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, I suppose we will. Bye, guys."

As soon as he was out of earshot, Trent asked Blaine, "So you let the guys do all the work, while you get friendly with a New Directions member?"

"It was Wes' idea," Blaine answered. "To look for you, I mean. And for me to stay behind. So if he has anything to say about it, it's kind of his own fault." He contemplated this for a moment. "Or maybe yours, since you could've waited for half a minute or so and just told us where you were going."

"I know, I know," Trent said. "I tried to call you, but there was no service, weirdly enough." A few seconds later, he added, "So we can't call the others either. Well, at least the flash mob was fun. We should propose something like that during the next Warblers meeting…"

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**A/N**: Yes, Trent. You totally should :P Anyway, what do you think? If you have any comments/questions/thoughts/prompts, let me know, please review!


	45. The Substitute

**A/N**: Chapter 45! This is one of those not very happy chapters, which I hope you don't mind all too much. Also, it's slightly different in the sense that Blaine is at McKinley and knows (of) Kurt (just a few general things he knows about everyone), but Kurt doesn't know (of) him - mostly because I've used the spying thing a few times already and I probably will be using it again in the future. This was requested, by the way, by _TalksToMirrors_, though I'm unsure if this is really what you had in mind; the same, incidentally, goes for _PawsForThought_, who just wanted a chapter based on this episode. I guess that's about it...

Hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom! :)

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Being gay wasn't easy, especially in a town like Lima, Ohio. Kurt knew this all too well, considering he'd lived in this town for the past seventeen years – his entire life. Still, being gay was no excuse for sexual harassment. He'd never harassed anyone, had he? No. So why did his biggest bully think it was okay to force a kiss on him?

Kurt had been thinking about that for the past few days and wasn't surprised that he still hadn't found an answer to the question. What gave Karofsky the right to steal his first kiss with a guy? Kurt didn't think he'd ever felt so violated before. He'd felt disgusting and, as such, had chosen to skip the rest of his classes and just go home and brush his teeth. And take a shower or two. Maybe more; at some point, it had all started blurring together and before he knew it, he woke up in his bed because his father had come home.

Anyway, Kurt knew that being gay wasn't easy in this town. He understood that Karofsky was probably having a hard time accepting this about himself, but if this was his way of dealing with confusion, he was _seriously_ messed up. Kurt didn't want to know what he'd do next time – though he hoped there wouldn't be a next time to begin with.

And to think, the reason this had even happened was because Kurt was sick of being pushed around every day and had tried to stand up for himself for a change. Now, he just wished that thought had never crossed his mind. It hadn't changed anything, except for the fact that Kurt was now even more scared to walk down the hallways at McKinley High, especially when he was alone.

Which he was a lot, seeing as most of his fellow Glee clubbers walked to classes with their boyfriend or girlfriend, or didn't have the same classes as him.

In short, he was terrified.

He also didn't think it could get any worse.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

When he was standing at his locker that day, there was a strange sense of foreboding. Something telling him to get the hell out of that corridor and to his next class, but he shook it off as nothing. After all, while the locker slams had increased, they were no longer what he was most frightened of. And Karofsky wouldn't sexually assault him in a corridor full of people, right?

He talked to Mercedes as if nothing was going on (she nor anyone else in the Glee club seemed to notice his bullying (let alone that it increased every single day), and if he really meant so little to them, he wasn't going to give them any details either) and then got ready for class. When he was about to turn back to his locker, however, a large hand landed on his shoulder and he did his best not to flinch.

Naturally, it was Karofsky. Just what he needed. All of a sudden, his bully seemed to want to talk about what had happened. More specifically, if Kurt had told anyone about what he still could only call sexual harassment.

Of course Kurt hadn't told anyone. Who was he supposed to tell? After all, his friends didn't really seem to care, and his father had only just had a heart attack. He couldn't deal with all this.

And besides, Kurt knew how difficult being gay could be, remember? So he told Karofsky exactly that, but it didn't seem to settle the bully's worries, if his next words were any indication.

Kill.

He was going to kill Kurt if he ever told anyone.

Karofsky walked away, but Kurt didn't move. For half a second, he couldn't breathe, and the words kept repeating themselves in his head.

He'd known Karofsky was out of his mind, but this – this was way worse than anything else he'd ever done, including that forced kiss a few days prior. The rational part of his mind told Kurt that Karofsky was just scared, and didn't actually mean what he'd said, wasn't really going to kill him. Kurt didn't really want to chance it, though.

He wasn't sure how long it took him to realise that he was still standing in the hallway which was now empty except for him and – Kurt almost jumped – a boy standing in front of him, repeatedly asking if he was okay.

o-o-o-o-o

Being gay wasn't easy, not in Ohio, Blaine knew that much. People just weren't as ready to accept that love didn't just happen between a man and a woman here as they were elsewhere. He knew all about it; after all, coming out in middle school had resulted in Blaine getting beat up two weeks before eighth grade was over. People were cruel, and so were their kids.

His parents – accepting but not fully comfortable with him being gay, though he wasn't sure if that was because of the fact itself or out of fear what people would do to him – had sent him to Dalton Academy after that, so Dalton was where Blaine had spent his freshman and sophomore year. It had been wonderful, but also very sheltered. So when his parents had moved from Westerville to Lima, Blaine had decided to try public school again. His parents were hesitant at first, but in the end, they had made him promise to tell them as soon as anyone was giving him trouble, so they could sent him back to Dalton whenever it was needed.

No one had given him any trouble yet, though, even though it had been 2,5 months since Blaine had started his junior year. He suspected that it might have to do with the fact that he stayed low on the radar, didn't join any school clubs and generally didn't stick out much. While he was, of course, out and proud, he hadn't actually told anyone here, mostly because he'd never needed to tell anyone. They didn't ask, after all. They never talked to him. Which, admittedly, was starting to cause its toll on Blaine because he _did_ feel pretty lonely. Every weekend, he hung out with his friends from Dalton, but during the week, the only people he talked to were his parents. He wasn't shy and he hadn't planned on becoming sort of a loner at McKinley, but it had just… happened.

He supposed being close to invisible had its perks, as nobody would notice if Blaine ever was to eavesdrop on a conversation or something.

He really shouldn't have thought that. Eavesdropping wasn't exactly a polite thing to do, after all.

The next day at school, it was the same old routine. When he stood at his locker in between classes to grab his book, something – or rather, someone – caught his eye. Blaine hastily busied himself with putting his books in the right order to avoid being caught staring (which was pretty ridiculous, seeing as no one caught him doing anything, ever – at McKinley, at least). Even though he hadn't really talked to anyone except teachers here, of course Blaine knew Kurt Hummel. Well, he knew _of_ the other boy. Kind of. He knew his name, that they were in the same grade, and that he was gay. As soon as he'd seen him, he'd had a suspicion, but that suspicion had only been confirmed after repeatedly seeing people hurl insults at the other boy.

And alright, Blaine would admit – seeing all those insults and that physical violence? Definitely not making him any more eager to come out to his classmates.

Kurt was talking to one of his friends – or at least, one of the people he hung out with sometimes. Mercedes Jones, also in their grade, and, judging from their current conversation, straight but single.

Blaine didn't really need to know any of these things, yet they were what he knew about most people at this school. He tried not to listen in to other people's conversations, but he was certain that he could singlehandedly fill the school paper with gossip if he did.

Mercedes was gone by now, and right when Blaine closed his locker, the girl was replaced by a large boy. Right. Dave Karofsky, also in Blaine's grade, bully, football player. Although Blaine had never seen him with a girl, he supposed the boy was straight, simply because that was the easiest thing to do, considering the other knowledge he had of him.

Blaine couldn't hear what Karofsky was hissing at Kurt, and wondered if maybe he should tell the guy to back off or just walk by. Either way, he was now approaching them, and he could just hear the last part of Karofsky's last sentence.

A death threat.

He stared after the bigger boy with his mouth hanging open.

He'd just threatened to kill one of his classmates. Blaine had wondered often enough what kind of messed up school McKinley was, but this was the first time in 2,5 months that he was really, really scared. Maybe if would be better to go back to Dalton. And he wasn't even the person who'd been threatened.

That thought brought him back to the McKinley hallway he was currently in. Kurt himself was standing completely still, shell-shocked, and Blaine knew he couldn't run off now.

"Kurt?" he asked tentatively, but the other boy didn't react. Blaine called his name another half a dozen times before Kurt seemed to notice.

"What?" he asked dazedly.

"Do you want to – go somewhere and talk?" Blaine cursed himself for being so awkward; he must be horribly out of practice.

"Talk?" Kurt repeated. "What – who are you?"

Blaine stuck out his right hand. "I'm Blaine Anderson," he introduced himself. "I transferred here at the start of the year. I'm in a few of your classes, but we've never been properly introduced."

"Oh," Kurt just said. "Sorry."

"Most people haven't noticed me," Blaine said with a shrug. "It's fine. But like I said, do you want to talk about it or something? Or just sit?"

"Talk about what?" Kurt asked, closing his locker. The sound echoed through the empty hallway.

"I… couldn't help but overhear what Karofsky said to you," Blaine told him, suddenly feeling slightly guilty.

"How much did you hear?" Kurt asked, visibly paling.

"He said he'd kill you," Blaine said softly. "You should – you need – "

"No," Kurt interrupted him. "Let's – let's go to the choir room, okay?"

Right, the choir room. Blaine had walked by it countless times by now, and a lot of those times, he contemplated, just for a moment, whether he should join the Glee club. After all, he had been a Warbler at Dalton, and he loved to sing. Up until now, he hadn't completely made up his mind.

"I can't tell anyone," Kurt said as soon as he'd closed both doors to the room and made sure no one was there. "Blaine, you – you can't tell anyone either. Okay? I don't know you, but you seem to know me, which means that you probably know I'm not the most well-liked person here. Stuff like this – it just happens to me. Even if I would tell anyone, I'm not going to be any safer."

Blaine nodded. "Okay." He wasn't going to push this; like Kurt said, he didn't know a lot about him, but he figured that Kurt knew what he was talking about. Besides, Blaine had seen enough these past months. "But if you ever need help, or decide to talk to someone anyway and need a witness, just tell me. And if you ever need to talk about whatever, I'll listen." He smiled self-deprecatingly. "After all, you're the first person I've spoken to ever since I got here, so it's safe to say I won't tell anyone else."

Kurt just stared at him with a calculating look in his eyes. "Why did you talk to me, then?"

"Because you don't deserve the abuse they're throwing at you," Blaine replied. "And because I should've talked to you much earlier. And I've been there and it sucks not having anyone to talk to."

It took Kurt almost half a minute to respond. "You've been there?"

Blaine took a deep breath. "At the end of middle school, some guys beat me up for being gay. I got to spend a couple of days at the hospital thanks to them." He sighed. "After that, I ran. My parents sent me to Dalton for two years, but now I decided to give this whole public school thing another shot. It's just not really going the way I thought it would."

"Okay," Kurt said in the end. "I'll… talk to you when I need to."

"Or if you want to," Blaine said before silently cursing his mouth. "I mean – there aren't that many gay guys our age around here, after all."

Kurt even smiled at this, if only just a little. "I think I'll have to take you up on that offer soon."

"Awesome." Blaine was already writing down his phone number on a slip of paper and handed it to Kurt. "Just give me a call. About whatever. Okay?"

Kurt nodded vaguely. "This is the first time a guy voluntarily gives me his number. Somehow, I'd imagined a different setting for this."

Despite the circumstances, Blaine laughed. "Well, I'm sorry if I'm not living up to your standards."

Kurt was still staring at the paper. "It's definitely not you that's the problem. Never mind." He shook his head as if to clear his mind. "I even made you miss class."

"No one'll miss me anyway," Blaine replied. Maybe the teacher would, but skipping one class wasn't that bad, right? He knew that there were people who skipped at least half their classes, every day. "And I meant what I said. If you ever want to talk about… this Karofsky situation, I'll listen."

"I'll keep it in mind," Kurt promised, giving him a small smile. "Hey, do you want to sit with us for lunch? Knowing my friends, they'll probably just ditch Mercedes and me anyway, so there would be enough room for another person at our table…"

"Sounds great," Blaine replied. "That is, if that's alright with Mercedes…"

"I don't think she'll mind," Kurt said, standing up. "Let's go, then."

As Blaine followed Kurt out of the room, he figured that it was about time he stopped being invisible to the entire school. Also, being gay in Ohio? Blaine suspected that it had just become a tiny bit easier for both him and Kurt.

* * *

**A/N**: So... yeah :) Let me know what you thought (or if you have anymore prompts :P), please review!


	46. Never been kissed II

**A/N**: This chapter, which bears some resemblance to the last one in some ways, was originally going to be chapter 47 - however, the original chapter 46 isn't working for me at all at the moment, so I figured I'd better write some other stuff first. The start of this was, incidentally, the start of a short story I planned to write over a year ago. Obviously, that never worked out, but it was a good way to get this started. Kurt's situation here is a bit worse, I think, than in canon, or maybe that's the case in his own mind. That's up to you. And maybe he's slightly OOC; same goes for Blaine. I hope it's not too annoying. Anyway, the main prompt for this was from _blue-starryeyed-songjay_; some of the dialogue in the second part resembles that of NBK (which I don't own); one of the lines in particular was requested by _serenity uchiha_. Please keep in mind that, although this is a fanfic, it exists in the weird universe of Glee, so things like letting someone who may consider transferring look around at school can be arranged within minutes. (I know it's not ideal, but...)

Two more things: has everyone seen the SBL trailer yet? And has anyone else travelled the world in search of airports lately? :P

Anyway, hopefully, you'll enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom :)

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"They don't seem to be very popular."

Blaine had to agree with David on that. Those New Directions kids looked like a group that was sort of randomly put together – a guy in a wheelchair, a guy who actually looked rather threatening, a couple of cheerleaders… Blaine wondered how they had all ended up in the same glee club.

"Maybe they're just not that good," Wes suggested, sounding hopeful. "I mean, if they _were_ good, more people should like them, right?"

"Then why wouldn't they just disband the club?" Blaine questioned, staring at the computer screen in doubt. "There must be a reason why they still exist."

"You think they're good?" Wes asked doubtfully.

"We haven't heard any of them sing yet," Blaine reminded him, and David nodded.

"That's true. Maybe they stick together because it's fun. Because they want to. Because they can actually sing."

"Oh well," Wes sighed, "one out of two isn't that bad, right? At least we won't have to fear for the Hipsters."

That afternoon, the Warblers had heard who their competition for Sectionals was going to be – a group of elderly people called the Hipsters, and a group from some public school called New Directions. They had quickly concluded that they should be able to beat the Hipsters, but they weren't so sure about New Directions yet.

They had started searching the internet, and had ended up on a blog site from some creepy dude who, apparently, went to school the New Directions kids also attended. Creepy or not, though, he had posted a video of the glee club on his blog only a few months ago. Right after the summer holidays.

Various club members were interviewed, and from what Blaine had witnessed, they must be somewhere at the bottom of the food chain in their school.

"Anyway," Wes said after another moment of staring at the website, "I think we need to go. Lacrosse practice."

Blaine shook his head. "I don't understand how you can play that."

David snorted. "Says the guy who has trophies in fencing?"

With a huff, Blaine turned his back to his friends; not that it mattered much, as they were leaving anyway. Deciding against watching the video about the Glee club again (Wes and David would probably decide to pick it apart tomorrow during Warblers rehearsal), Blaine almost exited the page.

He hesitated. Maybe he should check if there were any Glee performances on this site? He clicked back to the first page and scanned it. No, this seemed like just another blog run by just another annoying, attention-seeking person who thought it would be cool to post about the latest gossip in the school.

Then a thought hit Blaine. If the Glee club was really that unpopular, why did that guy make a video of them to post? Yes, maybe people would laugh at them, but wouldn't it have been more fruitful for this guy's image if he'd done a report on what the cheerleaders or the football players had done over the summer?

Either way, there appeared to be no new posts about New Directions' performances, and Blaine was about to get off of the site when the top new post caught his eye. _This month's ten best locker slams_. Blaine knew he shouldn't – stuff like this could be triggering for him – but somehow, even though he feared the worst, he clicked the post anyway. It was a video, edited to show ten consecutive locker slams, if Blaine understood correctly. By the end of it, he didn't move for almost a minute. That was horrible, and disgusting, and so, so wrong. How could people do this to others? And why didn't anyone do anything about it? The worst part, Blaine thought, was the fact that, in nine out of those ten fragments, the same boy was pushed into lockers over and over again. Incidentally, it was also the same boy who'd stood up to the blogger at the end of the Glee summer video and had gotten a drink thrown at him.

Blaine didn't know the boy at all, but his heart went out to him.

Somehow, this prompted him to watch some more videos on the site, including apparent classics like _The ten best dumpster tosses of sophomore year_, which also heavily featured the very same boy again (in eight of the ten videos this time), and _Gleeks getting slushied_. After watching a particularly horrible video about a group of jocks throwing pee balloons at, again, the boy from the end of the Glee club video – apparently, that one had been filmed by one of the jocks instead of the owner of the blog, though – Blaine had had enough. Pointedly keeping his eyes away from any other headline that might catch his eye, he finally managed to get away from the website.

Even when he finally managed to compose himself, he was still seething with rage. Most of his own bullying had been verbal, emotional. The bullies had only resorted to physical violence when they thought Blaine had crossed a certain line, like the time he had gone to that Sadie Hawkins dance with another boy. Still, it had been traumatising enough, and Blaine had had angry fits for weeks, even after his parents had decided to send him to Dalton. Apparently, seeing all these videos made those feelings of anger and powerlessness come back instantly.

He wanted to do something. He felt like he owed it to this boy he didn't even know to do something; after all, from what he saw in those videos, nobody at that school ever did anything. But what could he do? He couldn't very well e-mail the McKinley school board (or maybe the police) a link to some of the worst videos on here, could he?

Eventually, he reached a decision on what to do. The boy might not necessarily appreciate it, but Blaine could always try, right?

o-o-o-o-o

Blaine ended up having to wait until the weekend to execute his plan. In the meantime, David and Wes had shown the rest of the Warblers the New Directions video they'd initially found (thankfully, without looking at any other videos; Blaine wasn't sure if he could handle that), and Thad and Nick, who'd proven to have a little more common sense, had found some links to last year's Sectionals and Regionals competitions on the site of the Ohio Show Choir Board.

With a little more of an idea of what to expect from the other group, the council set to work to figure out the perfect performance for Sectionals. Blaine, on the other hand, went back to the blogging site somewhat involuntarily, in order to find out the bullied boy's name. This proved to be a rather easy task, considering the entire school appeared to pride itself in the fact that they all hated one Kurt Hummel, Glee club member and the school gay kid.

After this, Blaine searched for an address of some sort, but nothing ever came up. Something that did keep popping up, however, was the address of a car shop in Lima that was owned by someone also called Hummel.

Deciding to just take the chance and hoping that it was, indeed, the boy's father who owned the garage, Blaine dressed in casual clothes that Saturday (something rather unusual, as most Dalton boys normally spent their weekends either in pyjamas or their uniforms) and drove to Lima. He hoped that his assumptions were correct; if they weren't, he'd have driven for three hours for absolutely nothing.

It had occurred to him, of course, to simply try to send the boy a message on Facebook, but besides the fact that that was rather impersonal, he might have some more trouble convincing this boy that he meant well if they weren't face to face. Maybe the boy would think he was just trying to spy on the competition or that it was some cruel joke from his bullies.

After driving for a little over an hour and a half, Blaine pulled up in front of a garage that, according to the sign, was called _Hummel Tires and Lube_. This had to be it. It suddenly hit Blaine that the boy's father probably didn't know – or worse, didn't care – about the bullying. What would he have to say about someone visiting his son after learning about the bullying?

Well, it was too late for that now. Blaine exited the car and squared his shoulders. He was going to do this. As he approached the counter, he glanced around. No signs of teenagers here.

The man standing at the counter looked him up and down before asking, "What can I help you with, kid?"

Blaine was silent for a second, trying to calm his nerves. "Are you Mr Hummel?" When the man nodded, he asked, "Do you have a son named Kurt?"

"Yeah." The man frowned at him, looking slightly suspicious. "Why?"

"I was wondering if I could… talk with him," Blaine replied.

The man frowned slightly. "Are you one of his friends from school?" he asked. Before Blaine could respond, he added, "Why didn't you just go to our house?"

"I didn't have the address," Blaine said carefully.

The man nodded. "He should be here soon to help out for a bit. You can talk to him in the office when he arrives."

Ten minutes later, Kurt arrived, and Blaine watched carefully as he approached his father. He scolded himself for even thinking about the fact that the boy looked absolutely breath-taking; that was something that hadn't always been visible on the videos posted online, which were often taken at such an angle that Kurt's face was not fully visible, only recognisable.

He tuned in on the conversation right when Mr Hummel said, "Blaine here wanted to talk to you. You can use the office, if you want to. You can start after that."

Kurt shot him a suspicious glance, but didn't say anything yet. As he led the way towards what Blaine assumed was the office, Kurt suddenly stopped walking.

"Who are you?" he asked. "Why are you here?"

Blaine held out his hand. "I'm Blaine Anderson. And I… just wanted to talk you." He shrugged. "I kind of want to help you, I guess."

"Help me?" Kurt asked, sounding a little puzzled. "With what?" He walked a few more steps before pushing a door open.

Both boys sat down in the small office before Blaine spoke. "With your bullying situation. I know I can't exactly… do a whole lot about it, but I figured it'd be good for you if you had someone to talk to about it." He shifted in his seat. "I'm sorry. I'm probably overstepping here, right? Sometimes I really am too impulsive for my own good."

"How do you even know about my… bullying situation?" Kurt asked. "I don't even know you. Do you even go to McKinley?"

Blaine smiled uneasily. "Yeah, that's kind of a funny story. I go to Dalton." When this didn't seem to be much of a clue, he added, "I'm in the Warblers."

"What does that have to do with my bullying?" Kurt asked. "You being a rival show choir, I mean."

"Some of us decided to do a little research," Blaine responded cautiously. "We ended up watching some video about your big gay summers, or something."

"Well, that's not something I expected to hear," Kurt quipped, but even to Blaine, who'd only just met the boy, something seemed off.

"There were all kinds of other videos there as well," he continued. "About… locker slams, dumpster tosses… pee balloons?"

Kurt, who was already rather pale, looked white as a sheet now. "That's all on his blog?"

"No one deserves that kind of treatment, Kurt," Blaine said quietly.

Kurt pulled a face, staring at the floor for a moment before looking back up. "So you saw those videos, and instead of adding your own rude comments, you decided to drive for close to two hours to try to give a guy you don't know some comfort?"

Now it was Blaine's turn to stare at his knees. "I've been there," he said quietly. "Nobody noticed. I couldn't stand continuing on with my life, pretending not to notice that the people at your school treat you like crap. You don't deserve that."

Kurt smiled sadly. "You're the first to think so," he replied. "Well," he added, glancing at the door, "besides my dad, but I can't tell him about any of this. It's like… everyone at school knows it happens, considering half those things happen in hallways full of people. They all just act like they don't and can't do anything about it."

Blaine nodded in agreement. "That was exactly how it was at my previous school. Sure, some of the teachers seemed sympathetic enough, but nobody really cared. It was like, hey, if you're gay, your life's just going to be miserable."

They sat in silence for a moment before Kurt blurted out, "Though I think what's even worse than that is that not even my friends seem to care or notice." He glanced at Blaine hesitantly. "They get slushies too, and the occasional slur, and that sucks for them, but they're always so caught up in their own drama that they don't notice anything that's going on around them, and that includes the fact that my bullying is getting worse every day nowadays." He sighed. "Sorry, I – "

'That's what I came here for, didn't I?" Blaine asked rhetorically.

Kurt nodded, but then narrowed his eyes. "How do I know you're being honest, though? You seem genuine enough, but you could just be a great actor…"

Blaine was stomped for a moment. He hadn't exactly come up with a solution for that. "I don't know," he confessed. "I guess I could call my friends to prove that, at least, they didn't put me up to this? It's not like I'm out to hear about your club, I merely thought maybe you could use someone to talk to."

"You said that," Kurt said, nodding. "It just… seems kind of fishy. I don't know. Why don't you tell me something more about yourself, what happened to you?"

Blaine sat unmovingly for a few seconds. His parents had eventually gotten to hear the full story, and Blaine suspected that they might've told a couple of other family members as well. At Dalton, none of his friends had ever asked about it, but they did know he'd been bullied. They probably thought that he didn't want to talk about it. Which was true – he really did not want to talk about this. However, Kurt did have a point. If Blaine wanted Kurt to trust him, shouldn't he tell the other boy what had happened to him, too?

So he talked; in vague terms, yes, and he knew that Kurt probably realised that as well, but he talked. About his coming out at age thirteen, and the subsequent bullying. About the notes, the slurs, the occasional shoves, and finally, about the dance. And then, about coming to Dalton. About finally being accepted for who he was.

After that, it was Kurt's turn, and the other boy reluctantly talked about all the bullying, about the awful things the jocks tended to do to him and the silent acceptance of the rest of the school of this behaviour; about their disinterest in his well-being. About the acceptance _he_ had found – or at least, thought he'd found – in New Directions.

"They basically told me the only way I could make myself useful was by spying on you guys," he finished with a self-deprecating smile. "I was… going to do that on Monday, but I suppose that attempt will now fail simply because you'd probably recognise me."

"Yeah, I guess so," Blaine muttered, his mind working overtime. "Hey, Kurt? Maybe you should come to Dalton on Monday."

Kurt stared at him for a moment, seeming caught off guard. "Why? Are you actually _inviting_ me to spy on you?"

Blaine shrugged. "Not to spy on us… I thought perhaps it might do you good to see what Dalton's like. You could just stick with me for a day, sit in on classes, and the like."

"You want me to check out Dalton," Kurt repeated. "Why?" He glanced at the door again. "I doubt my dad could afford sending me there, if that's where you're going with this."

"There are scholarships available," Blaine replied. "You could apply for one of those, if you're smart or athletic or… I don't know. I could look into that for you, if you want."

"What am I going to tell my dad?" Kurt asked.

"The truth?" Blaine suggested. "Look, Kurt. I don't know what they've told you, but the bullying is not your fault."

"I know," Kurt responded.

"Kurt?" The door opened and Kurt's father came in. "Are you almost done here? I could use an extra pair of hands."

"I'll be right there, dad," Kurt replied. When his father was gone, he turned back to Blaine. "Sorry. You probably drove for miles to get here."

"It's fine, Kurt," Blaine said. "Should I give you my number, in case you want to talk, or to tell me what you've decided to do on Monday?"

"That would be great," Kurt said. "I'll give you mine too, just in case."

"I'll text you the details about Monday, if you decide to come," Blaine told him. "It's about an hour and a half drive, so you'd have to get up pretty early. But, a little birdie told me there's going to be a Warblers performance as well, so…"

"You can just bring people in who want to check out the school?" Kurt asked.

"I'll talk to the principal before classes," Blaine promised. "But it shouldn't be too much of a problem. You should just clear it up with your school. And your dad, of course."

"I doubt anyone will miss me if I'm not there," Kurt muttered. "I guess I will see you on Monday, then."

As Blaine walked out, he didn't see Kurt's father anymore. Perhaps, that was for the best; their talk earlier had been all kinds of awkward for him. How were you supposed to explain to someone that you needed to see their son because of some videos on the internet said son obviously didn't want them to know about?

o-o-o-o-o

Kurt had texted Blaine on Saturday night that he was definitely coming next Monday, so Blaine made sure to discuss this with the headmaster first thing Monday morning. His friends didn't know Kurt was going to be at Dalton that day, and Blaine reckoned Wes might not be all too happy about Blaine's invitation.

Blaine was currently waiting for Kurt at the parking lot, hoping that the other boy had been able to find the school well enough. That seemed to be the case, as Kurt arrived almost ten minutes before first period started.

As he exited his car, Kurt told Blaine, who'd approached him by now, "Thanks for doing this, by the way. I don't know if I'd thanked you yet, but – thanks. It means a lot."

"It's okay," Blaine said, shrugging. "Was your dad okay with you skipping school, though?"

Kurt sighed. "I didn't tell him. He'll probably get a call from McKinley regarding my absence some time today. Though, it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't. I'll tell him when I get home."

"You mean the truth?" Blaine asked.

"Well, I was hoping to get some more insight in what scholarships might be available if I were to transfer here," Kurt confessed. "If it would be possible, I definitely think transferring would be the best option, even if I'm letting the bullies win if I do…"

"I've always regretted that," Blaine blurted out before he realised it. "Then again, are you really letting them win if you transfer to a school that's academically much more challenging, offers you much better perspectives for your future and is also much safer for you?"

Kurt eyed him critically. "How many people have told you that?"

"Quite a few," Blaine confessed. "I guess it _is_ true, though."

"It probably is," Kurt agreed. "So, what's your first class?"

o-o-o-o-o

When it was time for lunch, Blaine figured that most Warblers probably already knew about Kurt's presence at the school. They'd had class with a few of them, after all, and news travelled pretty quickly within the group. And even if they hadn't noticed Kurt at first, two of the teachers actually asked him some questions during class.

"So, what do you think so far?" Blaine asked as they walked towards the cafeteria. They hadn't managed to talk a whole lot in between classes.

Kurt's eyes were still a little wider than before he'd entered the first class. "It's so different from McKinley," he replied as if in a daze. "The classes are so much harder, which is actually a really good thing, considering that, at McKinley, they are incredibly boring and easy. And – whenever someone here bumps into anyone else, they immediately apologise!"

Blaine chuckled. "Yeah, I was amazed at that as well at first."

"When's your performance, though?" Kurt asked. "I was thinking maybe I could pick up some information – "

"That's now," Blaine interrupted him, realising that all of a sudden. "Sorry," he added. "I mean – the performance is – well, in a few minutes. Do you think we could pick up the information after classes?"

"Uh – yeah, sure." Kurt nodded.

"Come on, then." Without thinking, Blaine grabbed his hand – mostly to avoid losing Kurt in the mass of boys streaming down the hallway on their way to the senior commons. He and Kurt ran down a different corridor, that was, Blaine admitted, not exactly the shortest route, but certainly a calmer one.

When they entered the room, Kurt looked around in amazement. "They're all here for the performance?" he asked. "I hadn't realised the Warblers were _that_ popular…"

"The Warblers are like rock stars," Blaine replied, unable to prevent a happy smirk from forming on his face.

Kurt looked impressed. "I also really stick out here," he said, looking down at his outfit somewhat disdainfully. "It wasn't as bad in class, but there are a lot more people here…"

"Well, then you'll just have to transfer here, right?" Blaine asked. "You'll get your own jacket in no time."

Kurt raised an eyebrow at him. "You mean that blazer? It's horrendously unflattering, Blaine."

Blaine rolled his eyes playfully – that wasn't flirting, right? God, he shouldn't be thinking about flirting with Kurt, they hardly knew each other – and answered, "Kurt, just admit it. You _love_ the blazer."

"Sure, Blaine," Kurt replied, sarcastic tone half hidden. "Of course. Whatever you say."

Blaine smiled, knowing fully well that Kurt was lying to his face. "Now, if you'll excuse me," he said, dropping his bag and placing it next to Kurt's before giving the other boy a small smile and walking over towards where the rest of the Warblers were already standing.

Jeff, who'd seen Kurt during their History class, stood with his lips clamped firmly together, and Nick, who (of course) was standing next to Jeff, also looked entirely too amused. Wes all but glared at Blaine, who already knew that he'd be having a serious conversation with the head council member when this was over.

When they started the _Teenage Dream_ performance, the other students reacted much like they always did; with a great deal of enthusiasm and dancing along. Kurt, in the meantime, looked even more surprised than he had upon walking in.

As much as it puzzled Blaine, he kept sneaking glances at Kurt as the performance went on. He was glad to see that the other boy seemed to get into the performance as well and smiled back at him every time Blaine happened to look his way. It gave Blaine a weird kind of energy, he noticed.

The room exploded when they were done, and Blaine happily accepted all the half-hugs and congratulatory shouts and compliments from everyone around him. When most other guys had left to head to lunch, Blaine walked over to Kurt.

"What did you think?" he asked, eager to hear what his new… friend? Acquaintance? Well, it didn't really matter. He just wanted to hear what Kurt thought, even though he had a pretty good idea already, from what he'd seen during the performance.

"You were amazing!" Kurt exclaimed. "I – you were really good! And you never told me you're actually the lead singer!" He smiled. "Really, it was great."

"Good enough to beat New Directions, then?" Both Kurt and Blaine looked around to see the three council members standing there; while David and Thad mostly seemed curious, Wes did not appear to like the current situation very much.

Kurt just blinked at him before looking at Blaine questioningly. "I invited him here, Wes," Blaine told him. "He's not here to spy."

"I didn't know you knew each other," David said as Wes directed them to two of the couches that had been pushed aside for the performance.

"We met this weekend," Kurt replied helpfully.

"This weekend?" Clearly, Wes now really thought the worst. "You're not exactly helping your case here."

"It was my fault," Blaine quickly intervened. "After watching a few more videos on that site, I realised that – " Oh. This wasn't really his story to tell. He glanced at Kurt.

"I get bullied at McKinley," Kurt muttered.

Wes sighed heavily. "So Blaine took it upon himself to find you and try to help you."

"Yes," Blaine said proudly, although he was aware of the fact that Wes wasn't exactly complimenting him. "I did. Nobody at McKinley helps, so… And then I figured that perhaps Dalton might be good for him."

"You're trying to get one of the members of our competition to transfer here weeks before Sectionals?" Thad sounded a little disbelieving.

"They wouldn't really miss me, though," Kurt muttered, taking his phone out of his bag. He frowned at the screen. "Though they wouldn't have enough members if I were to come here."

Noticing from the corner of his eye that it looked like none of Kurt's friends had noticed his absence – there seemed to be no messages or missed calls – Blaine said, "You didn't see those videos, guys. It's awful."

Wes rubbed his temples. When he spoke, he sounded exasperated. "Are you going to bring every tortured gay kid to Dalton now?"

"Of course not!" Blaine exclaimed. "I just thought that maybe I could help."

"I would be here anyway right now," Kurt interrupted. "If Blaine hadn't come by this weekend, I'd still have come, since the only thing my teammates seem to think I'm good for is spying on the competition. At least I'm not here to spy now. Shouldn't you be happy about that?"

"Let's go get some lunch," Blaine decided, standing up. When Kurt didn't immediately react, Blaine sent him a pointed look before glancing at the council members. "I'll talk to you guys later, I guess."

Once they were out of the door, Kurt groaned. "I only made it worse, didn't I?"

Blaine smiled slightly. "It's not often that someone talks back at Wes where the Warblers are concerned."

Whereas he'd been planning to have lunch with the other Warblers like he usually did, Blaine figured that that might not be the best idea now. After the confrontation with the council, he didn't want other people to start asking those kinds of questions about Kurt too. So it was just the two of them at a table, and for the first time since they'd met – two days ago, but still – they talked about things that didn't somehow have to do with getting bullied, and it was pretty refreshing.

The rest of the day flew by, and after they'd gone to get some information about enrolling at Dalton and possible scholarships, Kurt smiled brightly at Blaine. "Thanks for making me come here," he said sincerely. "Though it'll probably be even harder now to get through the day at McKinley again tomorrow, now that I know what it can be like." When Blaine opened his mouth to reply, Kurt quickly added, "I know. I'll talk to my dad about it." He patted his bag, where the pamphlets were stored away safely. "Who knows, I might be back, but as a student this time."

Blaine smiled. "That's good to hear. Take care, Kurt."

"I will," Kurt promised, shaking his head slightly. "So… I'll probably see you around?"

"If you don't transfer, we'll always see each other again at Sectionals," Blaine reminded him. A little less sure, he added, "We can also keep texting, if that's okay with you?"

"Yes, definitely," Kurt said. "I should really go now, though. My dad texted me an hour ago to ask why I wasn't at school." He took a deep breath. "Time to face the music, I suppose."

"Good luck," Blaine told him. "I doubt you'll need it, but…"

"Thanks," Kurt said. "I'll let you know how it went."

As Blaine watched Kurt's car disappear out of sight, he was suddenly struck with a strange feeling of hope that Kurt would, in fact, come to Dalton. Deciding that he definitely wasn't developing any kind of feelings for the other boy, he walked back inside. He still had a lot of explaining to do, after all. Like Kurt had said – it was time to face the music.

* * *

**A/N**: Dundundun. I'll leave the rest up to your imagination. Let me know what you thought about this, please review!


	47. New York II

**A/N**: Chapter 47! It's kind of mind-boggling to me that there are so many chapters to this, to be honest. Anyway, as you can see, this takes place in New York (both the episode and the city). ND and the Warblers only competed against each other at Regionals - so at Sectionals, ND was up against the Hipsters and another random club - where they tied. So they're both going to Nationals (yay). This was requested by _iWaldo_ and _onetwoone_, and I hope it lives up to your expectations (somewhat) :) Just a few things: once more, ND sometimes just... forgets about Kurt. They're much too busy with their significant others and other friends, or think he'll just join another group. Also, I'm aware that Kurt doesn't actually sing in LUTW in canon, but here, he's got a couple of lines that I'm aware I haven't specified - you can come up with your own ideas about that (or not). I suppose that's all :)

Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter, and please leave a review when you reach the bottom of the page :)

* * *

He had made it; he was in New York. _New York_. Taking a deep breath, he looked around again. There was simply too much to see, too much to hear at once, and he felt like he wouldn't get bored even if he'd remain standing in the exact same spot for the next few hours.

Yes, Kurt Hummel was thrilled to be here. Granted, he wasn't alone and he hadn't made it into one of the prestigious colleges of New York yet, but that didn't really matter. He was in New York and no matter the circumstances, New York was New York and Kurt was so, so excited to be there.

Noticing that the rest of the group was already far ahead, Kurt hastily ploughed through the masses, dragging his suitcase – heavier than that of anyone else in the group – along as he went. That was one – minor – disadvantage of the big city: there were a _lot_ more people here than he'd ever seen in Lima, and that included in the mall on Black Fridays.

Suddenly, he realised that he was merely just walking straight ahead all the time, but when he craned his neck to look for his friends, they were nowhere to be seen. Well. That was just peachy. But there was no need to panic. Kurt had, after all, looked up their intended hotel online and had penned the address down. Leaning against the wall of one of the many skyscrapers in sight, Kurt pulled his suitcase aside as well and started digging through his messenger bag, which he'd brought along for purely practical purposes.

"Are you lost?"

Kurt looked up and found himself face to face with a group of about fifteen boys, who were also carrying luggage around. "I just lost my group," he replied. "I'll find my way back to them, though."

Another boy asked, "Are you here for the show choir competition?"

"How do you know?" Kurt asked, surprised.

"That's what we're here for," yet another boy responded, smiling softly at Kurt. "You've got a suitcase and you're not too far away from our hotel, which, from what we've heard, is where most of the groups partaking in the competition are staying."

"Oh," was all Kurt could say for a moment. The boy smiled at him.

"You can just walk with us, if you want."

Having finally found the note in his bag, Kurt handed it to the other boy. "Is this your hotel too?"

"It is," the boy who'd first spoken said, after casting a look over the shorter boy's shoulder. "Oh, by the way, I'm David. Nodding at the two boys next to him, he added, "That's Wes, and Blaine." Then, he gestured towards the rest of the boys. "We're the Dalton Academy Warblers, from Westerville, Ohio."

"Oh," Kurt said again, not knowing when he'd gotten so eloquent. "I didn't even recognise you. We must've been on the same flight, then. I'm Kurt. I'm in New Directions."

"Right, of course." The boy named Wes gave Kurt a scrutinising look before adding, "Now, if you don't mind, we would like to get to our hotel as well some time soon so… gentlemen, let's walk on!"

Kurt stared for a moment as the rest of the Warblers instantly started walking again, following after the Asian boy like they were either robots or ducklings. Maybe robot ducklings.

"Are you coming too?" Oh. Apparently, not all of them had left yet. Kurt shot the boy he thought was called Blaine an apologetic look.

"Sorry. Of course. It would be awful if I lost two groups in ten minutes, right?"

Blaine chuckled. "I don't think Wes would be amused if they lost me, too."

"Is he the leader of the group, or something?" Kurt questioned Blaine as they reached the other boys again.

"Wes is the head of the Warblers council, yes," Blaine responded. Seeing Kurt's confused look, he explained, "The Warblers don't have a director. We have a council, consisting of three seniors. They make all the big decisions, though the rest of the group gets a say in most matters as well."

Kurt was impressed. "That sounds very… democratic," he mused. "I don't think that'd work for us, though. Rachel would completely take over and everyone would quit."

"Rachel?" Blaine inquired.

"The girl who sang at Regionals," Kurt said. _And the girl who'll probably sing everything at Nationals as well_, he thought. They didn't have a set list yet – they didn't even have songs or any idea what those should be about. Once again, New Directions was possibly the least prepared Glee club in the competition.

Blaine nodded in recognition. "So, is this your first time in New York?"

"Yeah, it is," Kurt admitted. "I don't plan on this being the last time, either. How about you?"

"It's my first time as well," Blaine replied. "I'd love to go to college here, though. I'm not sure what I want to do, but hey, doesn't the song say that there's nothing you can't do in New York?"

Kurt couldn't help but smile at that. "I've narrowed it down to two options; musical theatre or fashion design."

"So you're…," Blaine prompted, and Kurt shrugged.

"Gay? Yes, I am."

"So am I," Blaine told him. "But actually, I meant to ask if you're a… junior, then?"

"Oh, right." Well, it seemed like Kurt's temporary lacking in eloquence was back. "Yes, that too. I'm a junior. I'll probably end up spending quite some time looking into colleges this summer."

"I think I'd better do that as well," Blaine replied. "If I don't, my parents will never stop bothering me about it." For a moment, it was as if Blaine was going to say more, but in the end, he didn't.

"Are you looking forward to the competition, though?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah, definitely," Blaine replied, looking a lot better at ease now. "I suppose now we'll finally find out which group is better, after they had us tie at Regionals."

Kurt chuckled. "I think I know the answer to that already."

One of the boys walking in front of them looked at them over his shoulder. "You realise that you're outnumbered sixteen to one, right? I think you're better off not finishing that thought."

Kurt stared at the boy's back for a moment. "I thought there was a zero-violence anti-bullying policy enforced at Dalton," he mused, and Blaine nudged his shoulder.

"There is," he said. "Jeff's just kidding. Still… we're not at school now."

"It wouldn't do the Warblers' reputation at Dalton, or Dalton's own reputation, for that matter, a lot of good if we decided to roughen up the competition," the boy talking to Jeff pointed out.

"It would kind of destroy our guise as polite, dapper gentlemen," Jeff agreed, and Blaine nodded solemnly.

By now, the group had stopped, and the boys were all waiting for Wes to address the group. Once again, Kurt was struck by the differences between this group and New Directions.

"As you can see, we've reached our hotel," Wes started, indicating the building behind him. "David, Thad and I will check us in, using the roommates sign up sheets we put up last week. You can wait in the lobby, and we'll come get you as soon as we can."

Roommates sign up sheets? These boys were much better organised than the McKinley group. Kurt suspected that they didn't even have the money to pay for a lot of rooms and Mr Schuester hadn't thought about who to put where before trying to check in.

"And to Kurt here," Wes was now saying, causing Kurt to look up sharply only to be met by sixteen stares, "we'd like to say good luck. May the best choir win."

Even though he did feel slightly uncomfortable, Kurt smiled back. "Good luck to you too," he replied.

"I'll see you around, I suppose," Blaine said as they followed the rest of the Warblers inside. "It was nice meeting you."

"It was nice meeting you too." Kurt was about to say more when he was attacked from behind.

"Kurt! Where were you? We've been looking all over for you. What happened? We got here and you were gone. Did – " Rachel stopped talking when she saw Blaine gaping at her. Her eyes narrowed. "I was going to ask if something had happened to you, but obviously, the Warblers have been holding you hostage. I'll have to go see the show choir board about this. I knew something was up with them, but – "

"Rachel!" Kurt said loudly, feeling exasperated. Shooting Blaine an apologetic look, he said, "They haven't been 'holding me hostage', Rachel. I couldn't find you guys, so I stopped walking for a moment to see where I was supposed to go. They were nice enough to let me tag along." He sighed. "Besides, you only noticed that I wasn't with you when you got here?"

Rachel pursed her lips. "It doesn't matter. You're here now. Come on, let's go put our luggage away."

Without giving Blaine another glance, she marched off, fully expecting Kurt to follow her. Which, he supposed, he should, if he didn't want to get lost a second time.

"I'll see you around," he told Blaine, who was still looking slightly shell-shocked from only meeting Rachel for half a minute.

o-o-o-o-o

Apparently, Mr Schuester had some Nationals business to take care of (though only half the group seemed to actually buy that excuse). In the meantime, the group was told to stay at the hotel and write two songs to perform at Nationals.

That only led to disasters such as _My cup_, and Kurt wondered out loud why they couldn't just pick two already existing songs and just perform those. After all, they didn't just need to write songs – they also needed to write the music for it, and come up with choreography. At least if they took songs that had already been written by others, they could tell the band members (where were they, by the way?) so they could all start rehearsing.

"At least we'll have some songs," Mercedes conceded. "Now we've got nothing."

"I don't think any of the other groups are figuring out their performances only now," Tina agreed.

"No, come on," Finn said. "We're never really prepared very well, and it always works out, right?"

"Let's vote on it," Mercedes suggested. "Who wants to use original songs?"

In the end, there were seven people who wanted to still write originals. Kurt and Mercedes exchanged looks, silently deciding that those people could be the ones to write them, then. When Quinn suggested that they find their inspiration in New York itself, the group hastily got out of the room.

"Hey, at least we'll get to see New York now," Mercedes told Kurt as they made their way downstairs. "Where were you before, by the way? Rachel muttered something about… you getting kidnapped?"

"Yeah, that seemed to be the conclusion she immediately jumped to," Kurt replied. "I'd lost you guys, and then I ran into the Warblers. They let me follow them here. They didn't do anything, except wishing us good luck for the competition."

Once outside, Kurt was dragged along in what seemed like an attempt to visit New York's highlights in less than an hour. It was a good thing he'd brought a camera; at least he could see what he'd visited when he got home, because he didn't think anyone had really realised what everything was, which was quite a pity. How his teammates wanted to get inspired by this, he didn't know.

They ended with an improvised mash-up of two songs about New York, which, admittedly, was quite fun. When Kurt enquired why they couldn't just sing that song at Nationals, Rachel just heaved a sigh and told him he wasn't being helpful in any way and that inspiration would definitely come to her later. Kurt just hoped it wouldn't be _too_ late.

When everyone ran off again – some back to the hotel to give the song writing another shot, others to see some other landmarks – Kurt found himself alone again. He pursed his lips; no one had even _asked_ him if he wanted to come along to whatever they were going to do.

While he tried to figure out what would be the best route to take to see a few things himself – and maybe hit some stores as well – he suddenly heard his name being called. As he turned around, he squinted, trying to see who it was.

As they came closer, he realised with a start that it was a couple of Warblers. How they'd recognised him from such a distance was a mystery to him.

"So, you're trying out your Nationals material on New York's general public?" the boy he remembered was called Jeff asked, slinging a playful arm around his shoulder.

Shocked by this action, Kurt could only stare at him for the next few seconds. "No," he replied in the end. "That wasn't Nationals material. They just… decided to sing."

"Well, you sounded amazing," Blaine assured him. "I mean – the group did. Why didn't you have a solo?"

"Asks the guy who's gotten each and every solo this year," the last boy, whose name Kurt didn't know, said, rolling his eyes.

Blaine scratched his neck. "Yes, well… You know the council decides who gets the solos, Nick. This was an impromptu performance."

Kurt looked on, amused. "You don't even know if I'm any good."

"You're in a Glee club," Blaine reasoned. "You're probably able to sing, aren't you?"

"I am," Kurt admitted. "But between me not having a typical male singing voice and New Directions having enough girls, most solos generally go to other people."

"You should come to Dalton next year," Nick told him. "We don't have girls, and most of our voices are pretty low, so having you would be awesome. Besides, it looks wonderful on your college applications."

"You have to at least think about it!" Blaine added.

"You don't even know me," Kurt pointed out. "For all you know, I'm a serial killer. Maybe my entire club consists of serial killers and the show choir's just a cover."

"For a group only _pretending_ to be a show choir, you would've gotten awfully far," Nick pointed out.

"True," Kurt conceded. "But still, I'm not sure if I could leave my friends behind just like that. Plus… never mind."

Blaine nodded understandingly anyway as he patted Kurt's back. "Where did all your teammates go so quickly, though?"

Kurt shrugged, unable to keep the slightly bitter tone out of his voice. "No idea."

"We're going to visit the Empire State Building," Jeff said. "Want to come along?"

Kurt smiled uncomfortably. "Are you sure? I – "

"Very sure," Nick interrupted him. "Come on, let's go!"

o-o-o-o-o

After visiting the Empire State Building, the group started looking for a restaurant. All the while, Kurt found that he was having a pretty good time – better, at least, than he'd thought he'd have after his friends had all ditched him. Maybe transferring to Dalton wouldn't be such a bad idea; these boys were perfectly nice, and from what they told him, the same went for most of the other students. He hadn't really expected that, what with Dalton being a private school and all. He'd expected there to be a lot of stuck up rich kids. Then again, seeing as these boys were probably also fairly rich, they might not recognise such behaviour in others.

Kurt was willing to give them the benefit of doubt, however. They hadn't given him any indication that they were snobs at all, and neither had any of the other Warblers. After returning to Times Square and hanging around there for a while, the boys went back to their hotel a while later. Both New Directions and the Warblers would have to spend the next day preparing for the competition, after all.

While Nick and Jeff ran through the lounge in an attempt to catch an elevator, Blaine turned to Kurt. "They can be a little immature sometimes," he said apologetically.

"I'd noticed," Kurt replied. "That's nothing to be sorry about." They stood in silence for a moment before Kurt laughed softly. "I'm almost glad I lost my friends this morning."

Blaine looked almost relieved. "I thought I was the only one."

Kurt shook his head. "I had a great time today – I mean, if it hadn't been for you and your friends, I would've had to walk around New York on my own."

Blaine pulled a face at that. "Maybe we could exchange phone numbers? Just in case we have some free time tomorrow."

Kurt thought for a few seconds. "That'd be nice."

o-o-o-o-o

Everyone was still out when Kurt arrived in his hotel room. He felt slightly left out, but figured that he might as well get ready for bed now. He normally wouldn't go to bed this early, but there was nobody around to distract him or to tell him to hurry up. Even when he was done and collapsed on one of the beds – how an entire show choir was supposed to share a grand total of four beds and get rested for the competition was beyond Kurt – there was no sign of his roommates, nor of the others.

As he settled back against one of the pillows, Kurt realised that he had a text message now. Wondering who had realised that they'd lost him hours ago, he unlocked his phone and sighed. It was from Blaine. Not that he didn't want the other boy to text him, but because it almost seemed like Blaine was the only one who cared to text Kurt in the first place.

_We should've let Nick and Jeff run around a little more. They're bouncing off the walls right now. – B_

Not bothering to hide his smile – who should he hide it from anyway? – Kurt opened a new message.

_Are they really that bad? Nobody here is back yet, I feel like I'm missing something. – K_

They texted back and forth for another ten minutes or so before there was, apparently, an emergency Warblers meeting and Blaine had to go. Somehow, Kurt managed to fall asleep soon after and only woke up for long enough to register the girls coming in, bickering over who got to sleep where, and to clutch his pillow a little bit closer.

o-o-o-o-o

After getting up early the next day and hearing the news about Mr Schuester's upcoming summer job on Broadway, Kurt was subjugated to another afternoon of trying to write songs. Surprisingly, Finn had, with the help of some others here and there, written a song that could serve as their ballad. Rachel had started writing another song that, with the help of the entire group, was soon transformed into a group number.

The band dutifully came in to discuss the music, after which they started practising the songs. While Finn and Rachel (naturally) started rehearsing their ballad, the rest of the group tried to figure out who should sing what parts of their other song. As expected, everyone except Mike was not too opposed to singing part of the song – and that was putting it lightly. Kurt supposed it was a good thing Rachel wasn't in the room, or else she and Santana would be clawing each other's eyes out by now. In the end, Mr Schuester came back from checking in on Finn and Rachel and attempted to settle the arguments by dividing the song up in parts and making everyone who wanted a certain part sing it.

Naturally, Finn and Rachel were also present for this and, although, in the end, a lot of people got a part, that didn't happen without heaps of shouting and accusations. They were then quickly ushered towards a closed-off lounge of sorts to rehearse the choreography they hadn't come up with yet either.

Before leaving, Kurt grabbed his phone from where he'd put it earlier, and he was somewhat surprised to see that Blaine had texted him again. Kurt had expected the Warblers to be put through even more time rehearsing than New Directions. If Blaine had time to text him, maybe they weren't.

After quickly texting Blaine, who'd asked if Kurt would be having any free time today, back to say he didn't know yet, Kurt shoved his phone in his pocket and jogged after the rest of the group. When he reached them, Santana and Mercedes were still bickering over one of the parts. Kurt was actually surprised that Puck and Sam hadn't put up more of a fight against Rachel, who'd insisted that Finn and Artie take all the male vocals. Even now, the two boys didn't appear to be very sad about this. Rachel, though, hung back especially to tell Kurt that she didn't know why he'd gotten the lines he'd gotten, since _she_ was the much more obvious choice. Kurt decided not to tell her that it was exactly _this_ attitude that had probably caused a lot of their teammates to vote against her at this point.

Seeing as they were rather late to the party, it was decided that they wouldn't use a very complicated choreography – for the second song, that was, seeing as everyone except Rachel and Finn only had to get on stage and face away from the audience during the first one. Apparently, Mr Schuester thought that the original songs would be enough to sway the judges, even though New Directions had already performed original songs at Regionals so it was nothing, well, original, and other groups might do those as well this time around. Choosing not to say anything about it, Kurt dutifully learnt his steps and his lyrics.

As they went over everything a few more times, Kurt figured they would need a miracle to make it to the final ten or even win this. Yes, they were good, and the songs weren't all that bad, but he feared that it would be all too easy to see that they'd only been rehearsing this stuff for less than a day.

Oh well. If they lost, perhaps that'd be a lesson for their group and maybe they'd start working on competition set lists earlier next year.

Okay, who was he kidding?

In the end, they were kept busy all throughout the afternoon and once they were done – they'd have to go through everything again tomorrow, though – they decided to just get room service and go to bed early.

Kurt, who'd kept up a steady stream of texts to and from Blaine in between all the different kinds of rehearsals, figured that it had been a good idea not to mention the fact that they had basically only put together their set list today. The Warblers, from what he understood, had started selecting songs very soon after Regionals, and had started rehearsing not too long after. Apart from the upcoming competition, though, the boys had talked about everything that came up, from favourite movies and musicals to Blaine's almost obsessive use of hair gel and Kurt's emergency can of hairspray in his bag.

Luckily, Kurt had also managed to talk to his friends a little, so at least they didn't think he was selling all their secrets to the Warblers or something (he suspected that Rachel might just think that). While Rachel went on and on about Finn, Kurt got ready for another night's sleep, hoping that everything would be alright and they wouldn't be booed off the stage the next day.

o-o-o-o-o

They were the fortieth group to perform, and after seeing the first ten, Kurt was starting to get more and more nervous every minute. The choirs were all different, but also very put together; it was obvious that they'd put a lot of time and effort into their performances.

Plus, he had a solo. Only a small one of a line or two, but it was a solo nonetheless. His would be the only voice on the competition stage for a few seconds and it was nerve-wracking. Show choirs and other people from all over the country were present; this wasn't small-town Ohio.

Suddenly, Kurt understood why Puck and Sam hadn't been more adamant that they get a solo.

After the 38th performance, there was another break, and the group had been told to be backstage by the end of it. After walking around for a bit, trying (in vain) to calm his nerves, Kurt found a mostly abandoned restroom. Pressing his palms against the cool sink, he stared at his reflection for a moment. He would splash some cold water in his face, but that would completely ruin the careful moisturising he'd done that morning. Perhaps drinking some water would be a good idea. Kurt looked down at his hands. They'd have to stop shaking before he could even think about filling the cup he'd drunk coffee out of earlier that day with water. It would probably taste rather disgusting, but it was the only option he had.

Taking a few deep breaths, Kurt tried to calm himself, but he failed miserably. Of course, that was the moment when the bathroom door opened.

"Oh, Kurt. Hey." Blaine seemed surprised to see him there, for some reason. "Are you alright?" When Kurt didn't answer, Blaine moved to stand next to him. "What's wrong?"

"It's my first competition solo," Kurt managed to say after a few seconds. "I guess it's safe to say I'm a bit nervous now."

Blaine grinned at him encouragingly. "That's great, Kurt! Congratulations!"

Kurt shrugged. "It's not such a big deal, I think. Just a few lines. But… for some reason I can't help but think I'll mess it up somehow."

"You'll do great, Kurt," Blaine ensured him. "I know you will."

"Aren't you nervous?" Kurt asked, finding comfort in the fact that his voice, at least, was steady.

"A little, yeah," Blaine admitted. "It's not my first competition solo, though. And I've always got some pre-performance jitters, but once I'm on that stage… it's an amazing feeling. I'm sure you'll kill whatever lines they've given you."

"Thanks," Kurt muttered. "I hope so." They stood in silence for a few seconds, just staring ahead, at their reflections. "When are you up?" Kurt then asked.

"We're the 43rd group," Blaine responded. "That should give you enough time to find your seats again and watch, right?"

Despite his (still present) nerves, Kurt smiled. "Definitely."

"Now, come on," Blaine said. "I believe that the break's almost over. I know I've never heard you sing, but you'll do a fantastic job up there, Kurt. You'll blow everyone away." He seemed to think for a moment before adding, "I mean, obviously, the Warblers will win this, but you can have the second place."

Kurt chuckled dryly. "I don't think Rachel will be happy with that. Thanks, though. I'm sure you'll be amazing as well."

Blaine held out a hand and Kurt shook it, inwardly shaking his head. "Good luck, Kurt."

"Good luck to you, too."

o-o-o-o-o

The performance went by in a blur, but Kurt knew that he'd at least sung his lines the way they should've been sung, and he didn't mess up the choreography, as far as he knew. He should really remember to thank Blaine for his words of encouragement.

The Warblers, once more, looked like a tight-knit group, and none of the boys set so much one step out of line. Kurt found himself smiling throughout the performance, even though Top 40 wasn't generally his cup of tea. Blaine was a great performer, and the rest of the Warblers back him up quite nicely.

Before he knew it, Kurt was looking at the top ten list and honestly not very surprised that they weren't on it. There had been so many talented show choirs here that it would almost be a personal offense to most of them if New Directions, who'd only started rehearsing the day before, had gotten a spot in the top ten. However, some people didn't agree with this stance – scratch that, most of his teammates didn't understand why they hadn't made it to the final round.

They went back to the hotel after that, where Santana went crazy. Kurt was definitely not looking forward to the flight back the next morning.

The entire group went different ways after that, choosing to avoid one another for the next few hours. As Kurt followed Tina, Mike and Mercedes outside, he heard his name being called again. The other three looked on curiously as Blaine approached them. Kurt took a few steps towards him in order to get some privacy, and Blaine grabbed his arm.

"You were amazing!" he gushed, and Kurt smiled modestly.

"So were you," he said. "Your performance was wonderful. And thanks again for the encouraging words. They really helped."

Blaine smiled widely. "I'm sure you would've done equally well without them, but you're welcome. And thank you, too. It's too bad we didn't make it to the top ten." He frowned slightly. "You didn't either, right?"

"Apparently, we came in twelfth." Kurt was quite surprised by those results. At the same time, this meant that the top ten had still been within their reach. Who knew what would've happened if Rachel and Finn hadn't chosen to make out.

"Fourteenth," Blaine responded. "I'm not sure if I should tell Wes you beat us after all. He was shocked when your lead singers kissed at the end of the first song. Most of the guys were."

"So were we when we heard about that afterwards," Kurt muttered. "Just yesterday, Rachel was telling us how she wanted to focus on her future career instead of Finn, and there they went." He shrugged. "We've still got next year."

"That we do," Blaine agreed, smiling softly. "Anyway, what I wanted to ask, since I don't know if I'll see you tomorrow… when we're back in Ohio, would you like to meet up for coffee some time?"

"Coffee sounds good," Kurt replied. "What did you have in mind? I happen to know that the Lima Bean has great coffee, but – "

"Lima Bean it is, then," Blaine said. "None of the coffee shops near Dalton has extraordinary coffee, so I'm willing to give it a try. Say, next weekend? We can text about the details."

"Great," Kurt said. "It's a date." Realising what he'd just said, he quickly continued, "I mean – not a _date_ date, but – "

"I honestly wouldn't mind it being a _date_ date," Blaine interrupted him, flushing slightly. Glancing over Kurt's shoulder, he added, "I think your friends are getting impatient, though."

"Right, of course." Kurt nodded. "So, Blaine, I'll see you later, then?"

Blaine nodded. "Have a good flight home, Kurt. I'll see you back in Ohio."

Kurt would rather stay in New York for a little longer, but, he figured, having a coffee date with Blaine at the Lima Bean would be a good thing to look forward to. As he turned back to his friends, Mercedes was smiling knowingly. Tina, on the other hand, was shooting him curious glances, even though Mike obviously tried to distract her.

"I didn't know you knew the Warblers' lead singer," she said, when Kurt reached them again. Her tone wasn't accusatory, merely curious, and Kurt shrugged.

"I didn't," he replied, "until a couple of days ago."

"You have to tell us everything over dinner," Tina instructed him, leading both Kurt and Mike outside, Mercedes quickly grabbing Kurt's other arm.

Kurt knew that, whatever he told them, the rest of the team would know before they even left for the airport. Funnily enough, he didn't even really mind. If the coffee date was a success, who knew what would happen, and eventually, the group would find out anyway. Feeling giddy all over again at the prospect of, maybe, yet another date, Kurt promised to tell them everything. This trip to New York had turned out to be even better than he thought it would be.

* * *

**A/N**: So... what do you think? :) Let me know, please review!


	48. Audition

**A/N**: This chapter's a bit shorter than the last two, but hopefully, it's still enjoyable :) This was prompted by _Bethany Autumn_ - who also came up with an idea why the Warblers are, once again, at WMHS, and I hope I didn't take it entirely the wrong way - and _LiVeLaUgHlOvE24_. I hope it makes some sense. I also have no idea where that epilogue thingy came from. Somehow, it seemed... fitting? I don't really know. I was probably in a somewhat weird mood.

Anyway - hopefully you'll enjoy this, and please review! :)

* * *

Blaine nervously looked around as David's car came to a standstill on the deserted parking lot. Well, deserted – there were heaps of cars, of course, but all the students were already inside. He hopped out of the car and stared at the seemingly innocent public school building in front of him. One couldn't imagine, on first glance, what it was about the building that made Blaine's blood run cold, but Blaine knew that, once inside, all kinds of bad memories would come back to him. Still, he'd come here with a purpose, and he shouldn't let a bunch of public school jocks distract him. They'd been told to get visitor passes, so they ought to be left alone most of the time.

"Blaine!" Wes called. "Come on, help us out for a sec!"

Walking over to his friends, Blaine glanced at all the books lying in the trunk of the car. He definitely hoped these public school kids would appreciate them.

As part of their compulsory community service, Blaine, Wes and David had assembled all sorts of school books, both ones that Dalton itself no longer used and ones they'd bought from money they'd collected selling other books. At first, they'd wanted to donate them to public schools who didn't have the budget to pay for better books, but as it turned out, the school they had in mind apparently wasn't interested in giving its students a better education – still, the school board hadn't been opposed to the books being donated to the school library, so that was what the three Dalton boys were here to do.

At least the students who were interested, and bored by the current curriculum, would be able to educate themselves, right?

Grabbing one of the boxes filled with books, Blaine followed after Wes while David locked the car. Apart from bringing these books to the library, they'd also be spending the rest of the day putting them on the shelves in a somewhat organised manner. Blaine was glad Warblers rehearsals hadn't started yet, though he figured that that might have to do with the fact that Wes and David were in the council this year and had been busy organising all kinds of things over the past week or so.

They'd originally planned to stop by here some time last week – their first week of school – but apparently, school only started here today and whereas the building had been open the previous week, the library had not.

Luckily, they'd chosen the middle of a class period to arrive, so they didn't bump into any students on their way to the main office. After getting their visitors passes there and asking for the way, they headed towards the (currently deserted) library.

The librarian, an elderly lady who seemed bored out of her mind, narrowed her eyes at them at first, most likely not recognising them as the announced private school boys. Blaine could understand her confusion – the three of them were out of uniform, after all.

As the woman started working on making the books ready to be put on the shelves, she asked Wes and Blaine to place a number of other books on the shelves already while David helped her. Apparently, there had been a lot of people who'd returned their books shortly before or during the summer break, and so far, nobody had bothered to organise them. Either way, there was quite a heap of books waiting for Blaine and Wes.

"Should we just put them back one by one?" Blaine asked quietly. There may be nobody in the library at the moment, but he just found himself to be unable to raise his voice.

"We could try to organise them first," Wes replied, looking at a couple of classification numbers. "Then again, we don't know how exactly this system works, so chances are we'll just be wasting more time."

"So…," Blaine prompted him. "Just grab a few books and find their places?"

Wes shrugged. "Let's get started."

They set to work, and all in all, it took them almost an hour and a half before all the books had been returned to their shelves. At first, Blaine had started to question himself, but then he noticed that some of these books had actually been returned around the end of April. That was a _lot_ of books.

When they informed the librarian of the fact that they were done, she sent all three boys to lunch, telling them to be back as soon as possible, as there was still a lot of work to do. The books they had brought in weren't all ready to be placed on the shelves yet, but at least Blaine and his friends wouldn't have to sit around doing nothing for an hour and then work until school was already out for hours.

It was a very nice day, so after making a detour to David's car to grab their lunches, the three of them went out to the courtyard. They weren't the only ones with that idea; while the place wasn't exactly packed, there were more than enough people outside. They sat down at an empty table, and ate their lunches, while discussing their mornings. Right when Blaine was about to suggest heading back inside – the sooner they were done, the sooner they could get out of here, right? – a group of kids claimed the table next to theirs. At first sight, they didn't really stand out; just a normal group of friends, even though one of them was in a wheelchair.

"Are they all wearing the same outfit, or am I just seeing things?" David asked.

"They are," Wes agreed. While there were some minor differences in the outfits there was definitely a theme going on there.

"I think that guy's also with them," Blaine said, nodding towards a tall guy who was standing a few feet away, at another table.

"What's on their shirts?" Wes asked. "Do they say…"

"New York City," David replied before Wes could finish his sentence. "Hey, do you – "

He was interrupted by music starting and the girls at the next table harmonising along. Blaine grinned widely; he loved this song.

The boy in the wheelchair, pushed by another boy – who was wearing sunglasses instead of a cap, Blaine realised; then again, he himself wouldn't want to mess up his hair with one of those caps either – started rapping, soon followed by the tall boy, as the others kept harmonising in the background.

Blaine kept grinning, and Wes and David looked like they were enjoying themselves as well, even though at the same time, they looked strangely thoughtful. When Blaine looked around to see how the other students reacted, he saw to his surprise that they seemed to be trying very hard to ignore the group. Not quite understanding the reason behind that, Blaine just focused on the performance again.

By now, another guy was rapping as he approached the group, accompanied by another girl. The group in the courtyard was also still moving and harmonising along, one girl even going so far as to stand on a table. Then again, from what Blaine could see, she was kind of short, so standing on that table would definitely help her pull focus to the group – right? One quick look around proved that the other teens around still weren't paying them a lot of attention.

Once the chorus started, three more girls came into view, something that appeared to instantly catch Wes' and David's attention, if the attentive looks on their faces was any indication. Blaine was surprised to see that, even though these girls seemed to go all out, no one was even looking their way for more than half a second.

Before the group danced towards the steps, Blaine briefly caught one of the performers' eye. Well, he thought he did, at least, seeing as the other boy was wearing sunglasses. He smiled brightly, and turned in his seat to see the group dance a bit more. The girls, that was, as the boys were sitting on the lowest step. When the end of the song neared, they all danced, though, and Blaine was pretty impressed by their moves. The choreography didn't look all that hard to him, but it _was_ the first day of school. They mustn't have had a lot of time to rehearse this.

"I bet that this is their show choir," Wes muttered when they were done. "They're only with eleven people, though."

"Maybe they're doing this just for fun?" Blaine suggested. Then again, this group was seriously talented. They might just get far in an actual show choir competition.

Wes shook his head, and David said, "Probably not. We didn't want this to get out already so you can't tell anyone, but Nationals is in New York this year. Since they're not just doing any song, but this one… they probably want to compete this year."

"It's strange that nobody seems to want to join them, though," Wes commented, glancing around at the other students, who didn't even appear to have noticed that the club was done singing.

"Public schools are weird," David replied. "Anyway, let's go back inside. I don't really feel like being scolded for taking to long to lunch, and the sooner we're done here, the better."

They assumed the same roles as they had that morning, David helping the librarian and Wes and Blaine placing the already categorised books on the shelves. Sometimes Blaine didn't quite understand why a certain book belonged on a certain shelf, but he decided not to question it. If the students here at McKinley were able to find the books this way, Blaine was happy to help.

After an hour or so, Blaine decided to take a quick bathroom break. Fortunately, there was a bathroom near the library. Seeing as the bell had just sounded, he figured it'd be empty; however, that wasn't entirely true.

As he walked in, there was a boy leaning over the sink, muttering somewhat angrily to himself. The water was running. Blaine hovered awkwardly in the doorway, wondering if he should leave this boy to whatever it was he was doing, or if he should try to sneak past and use the loo like he'd intended to, or if he should talk to the boy.

He ended up not having to choose, as the boy called out, "Here with another slushie, Azimio? You're becoming almost predictable. Then again, I suppose I shouldn't expect any originality from you."

"Um," Blaine started, bewildered. "What?"

The boy looked up instantly, his wet hair dripping. His eyes grew almost imperceptibly wider and he blurted out, "It's you!"

Blaine blinked. "Yeah," he said slowly. "It's me?"

The boy grabbed the towel Blaine hadn't even noticed lying next to him and hastily dried his hands. Then, he started working on his hair, all the while looking at Blaine as if he was going to run away any moment now. Which, to be honest, didn't sound like such a bad option right now.

"I'm just… gonna – " Blaine pointed awkwardly at one of the stalls; obviously, his mind had other plans. The boy nodded quickly, and then Blaine dashed into the stall and shut the door behind him.

He hadn't even needed the stall, to be quite honest, but he just needed to gather his thoughts. This was, by far, the strangest encounter he'd ever had, especially in a _bathroom_. As he sat down, he suddenly realised something and almost felt like rolling his eyes at himself for not realising it before. This boy was one of the school's show choir's members; one of the guys who'd been wearing the sunglasses. Blaine wasn't certain what this boy wanted from him, but at least he now knew who he was.

As he walked back out, the boy was still there, although Blaine couldn't be sure if he'd intentionally waited. He did, after all, look rather busy trying to fix his hair.

"What happened?" Blaine asked as casually as possible. "I doubt it's a common thing, washing your hair during school hours, isn't it?"

The boy snorted. "Clearly, you're new here," he said. "For me, it _is_ a common thing."

Blaine looked the boy up and down. He was fairly sure that was a designer sweater, but maybe it was just a fake. "Are you homeless, or something?"

The boy stared at him in silence for a few moments before shaking his head and turning back to the mirror. "Of course I'm not homeless," he scoffed. "But those Neanderthals here like throwing… stuff at me." Apparently deciding that his hair looked good enough now, he began packing up his bag. When he was finished – Blaine had no idea why either of them was still here, as this boy was obviously stalling – the boy merely said, "I saw you watching our performance earlier."

Blaine nodded, smiling again. "Yeah, I did. You guys were great!"

The boy shrugged quasi-modestly. "We try. We made it to Regionals last year, but it _is_ pretty hard to beat the national champion, I guess. Not that we're not going to try again this year. Anyway, we've already concluded, you were pretty into the performance, weren't you? Would you be interesting in joining? We could use a couple of extra members…"

"You don't even know if I can even sing," Blaine replied amusedly, before remembering that there were actually more important reasons for why he couldn't join – like the fact that he didn't even go to school here.

"The guy that moved away over the summer didn't sing, and one of our current members doesn't sing either," the boy responded. "Some of our members couldn't dance if their lives depended on it. The key is to have fun, and if you enjoy singing and dancing, even if you're not that good, you should definitely consider joining. There's a sign-up sheet, but if you don't want everyone to know you're joining the Glee club yet, you can just walk in unannounced. You'll have to audition, but that's just a formality. Anyone who auditions gets in."

That was quite a contrast with the Warblers, Blaine realised; after all, they had a long waiting list of boys hoping to get in one day. Blaine himself had mostly been lucky that practically the entire group had heard him sing in the shower one day and had promptly taken a vote.

"That sounds… wonderful," Blaine replied hesitantly. "The thing is… I don't actually go here."

"What?" the boy cocked his head to the side confusedly.

"I'm not a student here," Blaine tried to clarify. "I go to Dalton Academy in Westerville. My friends and I are just here as part of our community service; we're donating books to the library."

"Oh." The boy looked fairly disappointed. "Okay, well… I'm pretty sure you were the only one paying any attention." He sighed. "At this rate, we'll never have enough members to compete."

"I'm sure there'll be people willing to join," Blaine said, though he wasn't certain at all. This school's attitude towards their show choir was slightly worrying, to say the least. "Anyway, I should really get back to the library. To help out some more."

The boy nodded. "Yes, of course. If you ever were to transfer…"

"I'll look into joining your club," Blaine finished. "Definitely. I doubt I'll ever transfer here, though. No offense."

"None taken," the boy said, picking up his bag. "I guess I'll have to check out your books some time. Should be refreshing."

Blaine smiled. "You're more than welcome to do so," he told the boy. "That's why we brought them here, after all."

The boy – finally – smiled back. "Good luck with the rest of your… community service, then. I'd say I'll see you around, but that seems rather implausible."

Blaine nodded. "Probably. And thanks. Good luck with… well, this school."

"I'll definitely need that," the boy replied quietly, and Blaine wasn't sure if he was supposed to hear that. Once back in the library, he pretended that it had just taken him a long time to find the correct shelves for a few of the books. Only when they were completely done and on their way back to Dalton, Blaine realised that the boy from the bathroom – whose name he hadn't even thought to ask, not that it really mattered – had essentially told him that there was some kind of pretty severe bullying situation going on, and that he was the victim. Perhaps if they'd had more time, Blaine would've been able to ask about that. Still – Blaine was glad he didn't have to go back to that school ever again.

o-o-o-o-o

A little over two months later, Blaine was tapped on the shoulder on his way to a Warblers performance, and it was his turn to exclaim, "It's you!" He finally learnt the other boy's name and even went back to that school – on more than one occasion – and even ended up transferring there the next school year; and yes, he _did_ ultimately join the school's Glee club.

* * *

**A/N**: So... what do you think? Let me know, please leave a review!


	49. Rumours

**A/N**: So... then this happened. It's... kind of random, I think. Anyway, this was prompted by an anon going by _Cutiepi97_, who asked for a chapter in which Wes and David, after finding out about Kurt's bullying, introduce Kurt and Blaine. Only when I started writing this I realised that it might've actually really gone together with the gossip website chapter, but since that was already posted at that point, I couldn't combine them anymore. Also, I suppose it might have made more sense for a chapter like this to take place in season 1/early season 2, but I feel like I've already done that at least a couple of times, so I did this instead. Oh - the POV in this is not really a one-character-POV. I hope that's not confusing or anything :)

Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom!

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"What are you two doing?"

Wes and David looked up from the computer screen simultaneously, only to find their fellow Warblers council member Thad eyeing them oddly. Not that this was the first time, though.

"Nothing," the two said in unison. David hastily grabbed a notebook from his bag and wrote something in it with a stray pen lying on the desk.

"This is the third time we did that this week," he informed Wes.

"And it's Tuesday afternoon now," Wes said. "What was our record again?"

"Let's see…" David flipped through the notebook. "I think that was around Regionals. In one week, we said the same thing at the exact same time… thirty-seven times."

"A gossip site? Really?"

Both boys whirled around. Apparently, Thad had already given up on getting an answer from them, so he'd gone straight to the source: the computer in front of them.

"It's too funny," David commented. "It's not from Dalton, don't worry. I think – yeah, it's the site of the school paper of McKinley High."

"As in, McKinley High's New Directions?" Thad asked. "Why are you looking for juicy gossip on our former competition?"

"It's not just about their show choir," Wes replied. "Just – this whole school is completely crazy. The things they write – everyone must've gone mad there. And from what we've read, it's a miracle that the Glee club can function well enough to win competitions, because they're smack in the middle of all the drama."

"How fascinating." Thad gave the computer one last disapproving glance before he left again.

Wes and David, however, weren't done yet. There was still so much to read, and from what they could see, there had been a new issue published already.

After reading a couple of blind articles, mostly about cheerleaders or former cheerleaders, David pointed at the screen. "Look, it says here that there's already a follow-up to this article…"

Wes clicked the link and they were met by a larger article titled 'Trouty Mouth turned gay?' Both boys scoffed at the title. "That's ridiculous," Wes muttered. "Are these people actually stupid enough you can turn someone gay?"

Beneath the title, a photo of two boys, one patting the other's back, was printed. "That's their proof?" David asked incredulously.

"At least now we know why public school kids think Dalton is a gay school," Wes commented. "If patting each other's back is considered gay… we must be super gay to them, or something."

David squinted at the picture. "It kind of looks like a motel room, though…," he said thoughtfully. "Still… it's insane."

They then proceeded to read the article accompanying the photo. The boys wouldn't be surprised if the person who'd written this had made everything up, because there was no way that dating a girl who may or may not be a lesbian could cause a person to become gay. It was also noted that the blond boy was, according to the article, had turned gay, had always been rather friendly to the other boy in the picture, who, apparently, was actually gay. The article ended with a warning not to get too chummy with gay people, lest you were turned gay yourself – obviously the worst fate anyone could get, according to the author.

"That's so offensive," Wes commented. Shaking his head, he scrolled down to see if there were any comments already. It turned out that there were. Over a hundred, to be exact. Most people lamented the fact that Sam Evans – 'Trouty Mouth' from the title, the boys assumed – was now gay, because he was such a nice guy, such a great football player, and so good-looking. A lot of comments also criticised the original author for blaming the ex-girlfriend, though the main reason for that seemed to be that a _lot_ of guys had dated her or slept with her, and if this guy was now gay because of her, they all risked becoming gay as well.

"I wonder if they took the stupidest people of our generation and sent them all to McKinley," David muttered. "Oh, look here." At some point, the comments had become more and more cruel, and everyone seemed to be, well, cyber-bullying the school's gay kid. Now, they were not just angry because he'd 'turned the other boy gay', they started throwing in the most colourful language Wes and David had ever seen or heard. Then, the comments got so vicious – promises to wreck the boy's car, to beat him up, to do worse things than they'd ever done before – that the two head Warblers closed the window.

"So," Wes started.

"Didn't see that coming," David said.

"You don't think they're actually going to do all those things, right?" Wes asked.

David took a deep breath. "There's only one way to find out."

o-o-o-o-o

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Wes asked, staring at the school building.

"I'm sure I don't want to go through with this," David replied. "But we're here now, and we came with a mission, so…"

It was two days later, and the two boys had decided to pay a visit to McKinley High, to see what had happened after that article had been published. Currently, everyone seemed to be in class. Wes, however, soon found a newspaper lying on the floor next to a row of lockers.

"It's a new paper," he muttered, and David walked up to him to read over his shoulder. On the front page, another large photo of the front of the motel was printed. Above it were the words 'Trouty mouth: not gay, just homeless'.

"Frankly, I think something _must_ be wrong with these people if they think being gay is worse than being homeless," David commented.

"You and me both," a voice suddenly sounded from a couple of feet away. Standing there was the boy who previous articles had said was gay. "Why are you here, though? Don't you have class?"

"Free period," David piped up.

The boy looked impressed – maybe he was only mock-impressed, though; Wes and David didn't really know. "A free period that's long enough to drive from Westerville to Lima and back, and even pay a visit to McKinley?" he asked. "You're kidding, right?"

"Okay, yes, we are," Wes conceded. "We read some articles on the school paper's website and decided to come check up on you. Even though we obviously don't know you, but you still know we go to Dalton."

The boy nodded. "Yes, perhaps if you wanted that fact to remain a secret, you shouldn't have worn your uniforms. Why would you want to check up on me? I can take care of myself."

"There were threats on that website," David replied. "Because everyone thought you'd turned that other guy gay."

The boy shrugged, though he did look a little uncomfortable. "Nothing they haven't done before. And Sam just got up during lunch yesterday to announce to the entire school that, while there's nothing wrong with being gay, he himself is straight, has always been straight and will always be straight, most likely, and that it's impossible to turn someone gay. I mean, if it would, a lot of gay people would've been turned straight if only because of all the bullying. Plus… there is some sort of protection against bullies now. Not that they're always around, but it helps."

"Okay," Wes said after a short pause. "That's… good to hear – what was your name again?"

"Kurt Hummel," the boy introduced himself, holding out his hand for Wes and David to shake.

"It's nice to meet you, Kurt Hummel," Wes said almost pompously. "Now that we've established that we are actually supposed to be in class – don't you have to be elsewhere?"

Kurt shrugged. "Some people threw their food at me, I had to clean myself up. I might as well skip the rest of the period now."

Wes and David exchanged looks. "Come on," David told him.

"Who, me?" Kurt asked, hesitantly following them as they walked off. "Where? And I _do_ have other classes today…"

"We're taking you to see Blaine," David replied.

"What?" Kurt sounded thoroughly confused now. "Who's – why?"

"Blaine," David repeated. "Our openly gay lead singer. He's gone through hell and back at his old school, at least, that's our impression. He won't really talk about it to us. But it might benefit you, you know, talking to someone who's gone through similar hardships, knowing that you're not the only one."

"Is he some sort of part time therapist, or something?" Kurt started sounding a little annoyed. Even so, he was also still following Wes and David. "Do you do this often? Seek out bullied gay kids in all of Ohio and then take them to see your wise leader? Are the Warblers only a cover for some sort of weird cult? What – hey!"

Having reached the car, Wes had opened the door to the backseat and was now attempting to get Kurt to sit there. "I promise, we're all perfectly normal," he told the other boy. "Just – we'll bring you back here later. And you've still got your phone, so you can always call someone. In case you're wondering, we're not kidnapping you."

Kurt scoffed. "It certainly seems like it."

"We didn't exactly think this through," David commented once they were driving. "Now we have to drive to Lima and back another time today. We should've just brought Blaine with us."

Wes shook his head. "You know how Blaine gets when he has to miss class for whatever reason." Turning his attention to Kurt, who was sulking in the backseat, he added, "We're actually also hoping you'll get Blaine to talk. As far as we know, he hasn't talked to anyone about what happened to him, which is kind of worrying. It's not like we're dying to hear the entire story, but he just needs to let it out."

Kurt didn't comment; he just narrowed his eyes slightly and kept on glaring. He didn't even sing along when Wes turned on the radio; then again, maybe Top 40 and hip-hop weren't Kurt's favourite music genres.

Both Wes and David tried to strike up a conversation with Kurt multiple times, but it was obvious that, although the boy was not protesting or trying to get out of the car (however dangerous that might be on the highway), he was not about to act all friendly.

Finally, they arrived at Dalton. No matter how hard he might be trying, Kurt couldn't quite disguise the fact that he looked rather in awe of the school. Still, it didn't take a lot to get him to enter the building, where Thad appeared to be waiting for them – which was weird, because they hadn't told him where they were going or when they'd be back.

"Where were you?" he exclaimed. "All the teachers – wait. Who's that?"

"This is Kurt," David replied. "Kurt, this is Thad. He's also a Warbler."

"Did you just decide to go out and kidnap someone to bring back to Dalton, or what?" Thad asked, frowning.

Kurt shrugged in response, while Wes said, "No, we didn't. Have you seen Blaine? Is he in his room?"

Now it was Thad's turn to shrug. "I don't know. He could be. Probably?"

"Let's just go," David decided.

Soon enough, they'd reached the dorm and knocked the door. Blaine looked slightly confused when he opened it, especially when he caught sight of Kurt.

"Um… guys?" he asked. "What's wrong? I'm actually kind of busy right now…"

"This is Kurt." Wes decided to go straight to the point now. After all, they also needed to get Kurt back to Lima some time today. "You two need to talk."

As Wes and David turned around and walked away, Blaine frowned. "Why do we need to talk?" he asked Kurt. "And… who are you? Where did they find you?"

"They thought it would help us both, my name is Kurt Hummel, and they found me at my school in Lima," Kurt rattled off. "Having said that, I don't really have a clue why they brought me here."

Blaine sighed. "Well, you can come in for a moment, if you want to?"

"I might as well," Kurt decided.

"So… did Wes and David give you any clue, though?" Blaine asked as Kurt sat down at the only chair available, before awkwardly plopping down on his bed himself."

"Like I said, they thought it might help us," Kurt replied. "Knowing that we're not the only gay teens getting bullied… swap life stories, I'm not completely sure."

Blaine shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts. "Wes and David are… kind of weird sometimes. I'm sorry for them."

"It's not your fault," Kurt told him. "And… I suppose they're kind of right. Sometimes it's easy to forget I'm not the only person getting bullied in high school. Sure, there are enough online communities to share stories, but that never really appealed to me. You know, that your story's just there for the whole world to see. Even if those sites are mostly password protected, you never know who reads it. It may be anonymous, yes, but still."

Blaine inclined his head in agreement. "I've never been a huge fan of those either," he admitted. "I'm just not sure if I can just tell you what happened to me, just because Wes and David dropped you off here, or because you're being bullied. Sorry about that, by the way."

"Again, not your fault," Kurt reminded him. "And sure, that's… understandable. I don't think that I'm currently at a point in life where I'd just tell a complete stranger what's going on at school. Half a year ago, it was much worse. I might've told you if you'd seemed genuine enough and just asked. But… not now."

"You're probably going to say, again, that it's not my fault, but I'm still sorry you came all the way from Lima only for… this," Blaine said. "If I'd known what those two were planning, I would've just told them to give you my phone number."

"Are you sure you're not a part time therapist?" Kurt asked, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Or maybe even a full time one? You seem far too accustomed to this whole procedure to be doing this for the first time."

"Not a therapist, sorry," Blaine replied, and Kurt rolled his eyes at the apology. "I've tried to help some people out before, but I'm definitely not a professional. At all. And I don't think I'll ever want to be a professional."

Kurt nodded. Turning to the desk, he said, "I'll just write down my phone number… here. We'll figure something out." He scribbled his number on a random note.

Blaine scurried over to the desk in order to retrieve the piece of paper before he would lose it among all the other things lying on his desk. "Thanks," he said awkwardly. "I'll text you later so you have my number as well and we'll… talk."

Kurt nodded. "Sounds like a plan. It was… nice meeting you, Blaine, despite the somewhat weird circumstances. I'll go and look for your friends now, they promised me a ride back to Lima. I'll see you around, yeah?"

When Kurt disappeared around the corner, Blaine wondered for a split second if maybe he should've helped him find Wes and David. Well – it seemed like it was too late for that anyway. Closing the door, Blaine leaned back against it. He would really need to talk to his friends some time soon. The amount of craziness seemed to grow every week. But before he did that, he really needed to save Kurt's number on his phone. He'd promised to keep in touch, after all, and who knew what would come out of this.

* * *

**A/N**: I hope that all made sense to you! If you have any questions, let me know. Please review! :)


	50. Yes No

**A/N**: Heh. I can't believe we actually made it to chapter 50! Long ass author's note ahead, by the way just so you know. The reason this took a little longer was, well, Klaine week on Tumblr, my issues with posting two things for the same fandom on one day, and then 's traffic stats issues, which, I'll admit, I'm sort of obsessed with. Anyway - yay for chapter 50! No, seriously, it's crazy for me that there are 50 one-shots here about Kurt and Blaine's first meetings :P  
Let's get down to business, yes? Some months ago, _blue-starryeyed-songjay_ prompted 'swimming pool'. Back then, it was probably a public pool, but after Y/N, it became the pool at McKinley (or wherever the synchronised swimming team practises). And then Kurt and Blaine didn't even really meet there. *facepalm* I hope you'll like it anyway :) And as for Blaine's nickname, I'd like to thank _burtkaharris_ on Tumblr (whom I'm not even sure reads this story) for the suggestion.  
Next point of order, the chapter notes :P I think in WFL, Blaine's hair is gelled(?). I'm aware of that. This story kind of contradicts that, though. And I'm just going to say that when practising that number, they all wore 'normal' bathing suits, if you will, and only wore the more old-fashioned ones when they performed the song for Emma. Another point: I may be mistaken, but I really think that most of the school doesn't really care much about whether or not someone's gay, personally. They might not speak up for them against the jocks because, well, they might become a target themselves and most people don't want that, but a lot of them wouldn't be offended by the gay population at McKinley, so to say.

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter. Please leave a review at the bottom (and I mean it; I'm starting to suspect interest in this story is dwindling, and while I won't just stop posting or anything, I might start thinking about what to do with this instead. Any criticism is also more than welcome, of course) :)

* * *

Two and a half weeks in, Blaine Anderson was certain that he'd gotten used to the dynamics at McKinley High as well as he could. He knew which people to avoid (the football players, but the hockey players even more so; also, the cheerleaders, especially since he'd turned down two of them on his first day and all Cheerios now glared at him as he walked by), where his classes were, who his teachers were, and where his niche was.

The synchronised swimming team.

Not a lot of people knew that McKinley had such a team, and Blaine had been surprised to hear about its existence as well. Dalton hadn't had a synchronised swimming team, but since Blaine had always rather liked swimming, he readily joined when coach Beiste had informed him that it was the only sports team still taking new members.

Contrary to popular belief, the team was actually pretty good. Better than, for instance, the hockey team, compared to the other teams in the competition. Blaine figured it was a lot more fun than hockey as well. Yes, it was quite exhausting at times, but the McKinley workload was almost non-existing in comparison. While their coach didn't openly pick favourites, Blaine was relieved that she didn't seem to dislike him either (she could be quite scary to those she didn't like). He was both strong and relatively light, which, he figured, was a good combination for this sport.

Furthermore, his teammates were all nice enough, and let him sit with them at lunch. A few of them, who were in his grade, had told him more about the classes and teachers, and they'd all taken part in giving Blaine as many tips as possible to help him survive McKinley.

He wasn't sure if he was ready to come out to them, though. He most definitely wasn't hiding the fact that he was gay, but no one had flat-out asked him about his sexuality either. He suspected that most people figured he must have a girlfriend at another school. Blaine just hoped that his team would accept him when he came out to them.

Currently, he was taking a short break. With a few teammates, he watched the others practise from the sidelines and their coach talk heatedly to a couple of other students. As he watched Sam, the new guy who'd joined them only two days before, wobble as he tried to balance on the girls' arms, Blaine shook his head, smiling a bit. It was hard to imagine that that had been him, only a little over two weeks earlier. He liked to think that he was much better already, now. Not as good as some people on the team, but definitely better than he had been.

Later, as Blaine was getting dressed, Sam came out of the showers, pulling a shirt over his head. "Hey, man," he greeted Blaine, studying him for a moment. "Are you a freshman, or something, because I don't remember seeing you here before?"

Blaine snorted. After a few weeks of people thinking he was younger than he actually was, Blaine had started to get used to it. "No, not a freshman; just short. I'm a junior, actually, but I only transferred here after Christmas break, so…"

Sam nodded pensively. "Sam Evans," he introduced himself, holding out a hand for Blaine to shake.

"Blaine Anderson," Blaine replied. "So, Sam… if you don't mind me asking… why the synchronised swimming team?"

Sam shrugged. "Trying to win my ex-girlfriend back, you know? Her new boyfriend's a football player, so I figured I'd need a letterman jacket at the very least. I know this isn't the coolest thing to do – no offense – but this was the only team that lets people join even now." A moment later, he continued, "We… started dating after junior prom last year, but we broke it off at the end of the summer. My parents decided to move to Kentucky, so we figured it'd be for the best to stop dating."

"Kentucky?" Blaine asked, curiously, as he took out his tub of hair gel. "But… you're back now."

"My friends' doing," Sam explained. "I like to think they missed me, even though Finn and Rachel did make it sound like they only wanted me to come back so they'd have more Glee club members for Sectionals."

"You're in the Glee club?" Blaine had been thinking of joining as well, but he hadn't quite gotten around to it so far. Perhaps Sam would be willing to help him get in.

Sam nodded. "I know it's not very cool around here, but it's fun. Anyway, why did you choose for synchronised swimming?"

"Well, as you said, this was one of the only teams I _could_ still join," Blaine replied as he plastered his hair down forcefully. "I've always liked swimming, and the sports I did at Dalton, like fencing and polo, don't seem to be popular enough here to start teams for. I wanted to join a sports team, be a part of something, so here I am."

"Dalton?" Sam asked, looking up from where he was doing _his_ hair in surprise. "As in the Dalton Academy Warblers?" When Blaine nodded, Sam asked, "Were you in the Warblers?" Again, Blaine nodded. "You should join New Directions!" Sam exclaimed happily. "Unless you're a spy, of course. Wait – if you went to Dalton before this, why did you come here?"

"My dad's company's not doing so well at the moment," Blaine replied. "My parents decided that it would be a better idea to put the money usually spent on Dalton's tuition in a college fund. Then again, I'd asked them to send me to public school at the start of the school year already, so I don't really mind, in that respect."

"Why?" Sam enquired. "I'm just curious; a friend of mine had some major problems here last year, and his parents looked into sending him to Dalton, but it was too expensive for them. Seems to me like you should be thankful your parents could send you there in the first place, you know?"

Blaine nodded. "I know. And I was – still am, actually. When I first went to Dalton, it was… paradise. I'd had some… issues as well, and coming to Dalton was so different from what I was used to. It's just that I realised that Dalton's not the real world, and staying there wasn't going to help me _survive_ in the real world either."

Sam shrugged. "Fair enough. Hey, were you planning on joining Glee club?"

Blaine paused for a moment. "Yeah, actually. I figured I'd first get settled here, though, but now that I have… I might stop by sooner or later."

"Awesome." Sam grinned. "Tell you what – come with us and you can join Finn and me for some computer games while we talk about this. Finn's one of the unofficial captains of the team, together with his girlfriend, so if you can convince him, he could also back you up if Rachel or someone else accuses you of wanting to spy on us." Before Blaine could reply, Sam added, "Besides, if you came over, you could meet Kurt as well. That's three Glee members!"

"Sure," Blaine replied, finally getting the chance to do so. "Would that be okay with them, though?"

Sam frowned. "I doubt they'd have a problem with it, but yeah, we should probably ask them first. It's their house, after all."

"Brothers?" Blaine asked, packing his bag swiftly.

Sam did the same. "Stepbrothers," he clarified. "Their parents got married last year. We got to sing at the wedding, it was a lot of fun."

Blaine could understand that. "Let's go then," he said. "Are they still here?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, they should be. Kurt said he'd go study in the library or something, otherwise Finn would've brought his own car as well. He just had football practice."

"Were you on the football team last year?" Blaine inquired, and Sam nodded.

"I was. It really sucks that I can't even be on the reserve team, because it was awesome. You're not much of a football fan?"

"Oh, I am." Blaine grinned. "I just never played it. I'm not exactly the right build to be a football player. I love watching it, though."

The halls, by now, were practically deserted. In the distance, however, Blaine heard someone talking. It seemed like Sam did, too, as he instantly perked up and picked up his speed. Soon enough, it became clear to Blaine – they turned around the corner, and the girl standing a few feet away instantly locked eyes with Sam. This must be the girl he was trying to get back, then.

She was talking to a boy, but Blaine figured this couldn't be the new boyfriend. He didn't look perturbed by the fact that Sam was approaching them and the girl hadn't looked away once. Then, suddenly, she did, and she muttered something to the boy before walking off hastily.

Glancing at the boy at his right, Blaine wasn't very surprised to see that Sam's expression had fallen. "You're not making it any easier for her, Sam," the boy still leaning against the locker commented.

Sam must've responded, but Blaine didn't notice. He'd seen this boy around a few times, but had never heard him speak. Which, in hindsight, was quite a pity.

"This is Blaine, by the way," Sam introduced him, clapping Blaine on the back. "He's on the team with me. Just transferred here from Dalton."

The boy's eyebrows rose. "Dalton?" he echoed. "Why would you want to be here if you could be there?" He sounded almost affronted.

"Oh, it was a great school," Blaine replied. "Public school will prepare me better for what the real world is like, though. And there were some money issues."

Thankfully, the boy didn't question him any further. Instead, he reached into his bag and pulled out his phone. "It's Finn," he told Sam. "He's waiting at the car."

"Blaine's coming along, if that's okay with you," Sam replied. "We're going to play some video games. He wants to join Glee club, too."

The boy scrutinised Blaine for a moment. "You were a Warbler?" he asked. His eyes drifted from Blaine's face to his hair and back. "Weren't you their lead last year? They must be devastated by the fact that you left Dalton."

Blaine shrugged. "I guess so. Then again, some of them couldn't wait to try out for solos and actually stand a chance."

"Sounds like something that will happen here as well," the boy muttered as he started walking towards the exit. "You know, once Rachel graduates."

"Should I bring my own car?" Blaine asked as they crossed the parking lot. "That would be easier, right?"

"I'll ride with you," Sam volunteered. "I know where they live, so. Hey, Finn!" He waved at a tall boy standing some distance away. The boy waved back somewhat awkwardly.

"So Finn's the tall guy?" Blaine asked – just to be sure – when he and Sam reached his own car.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, and the other guy was Kurt, but you probably figured that out already. You don't have navigation in your car?"

"No, I don't," Blaine replied. Personally, he didn't really mind. He just tended to forget most other cars did have navigation nowadays. "You'll just have to tell me where we're going."

At first, Sam didn't say much more than directions, but all of a sudden, he asked, "So, do you have a girlfriend? You know all about my love life, so…"

Blaine glanced sideways for a split second. "No, no girlfriend for me," he responded carefully, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"We can form a regular single's club," Sam said. "Any girls you're trying to impress? I know I've only been on the team for two days, but I definitely think some of the girls might like you."

Blaine shook his head. "I'm… not particularly interested," he replied. "I'm not really looking for a girlfriend."

Sam was quiet for a few seconds, before saying, "Turn right here. So, a boyfriend, then?"

Blaine's hands clenched around the steering wheel and he could feel his body go rigid. "What?" he all but squeaked. "How did you – please don't hurt me."

"Of course I'm not going to hurt you." Sam sounded slightly confused. "So you're gay? That's what got you in trouble at your last public school?" Blaine nodded curtly, and Sam made a sympathetic noise. "I'm sorry, man. Well, McKinley's definitely a bit safer for gay students now than it was last year… and the years before that, I think – last year was my first year here. You're still only about one fourth of the gay population, though. Wait – are you even out?"

"I'm out," Blaine confirmed. "Just – nobody's asked me about my sexuality yet, here, so I haven't said anything either. I think a lot of people think I'm straight. I don't really like it, but for now, I suppose it's not a bad idea to just… lie low for a while."

"If it helps any, we'll all be there for you," Sam said. "Oh – turn left here. All the kids in Glee, I mean. In case anyone gives you any trouble." He paused for a moment, then added, "Though I think coach Washington may just get revenge on those people if they hurt you. She could give coach Sylvester a run for her money when it comes to being scary and intimidating."

Blaine wasn't entirely sure who that was, but he strongly suspected that coach Sylvester was the Cheerios' coach. "Well, I'd rather it doesn't happen in the first place… but it's a comforting thought."

Not too long after that, Blaine pulled up in front of the Hudmel (as Sam called it) house. The first thing Blaine noticed was that his was the only car there, and he turned to Sam confusedly. This wasn't some sort of trap, was it?

"I think Kurt stopped by the Lima Bean for some coffee," Sam told him, noticing Blaine's confusion. "They'll be here any minute. Don't worry, though, I've got the key."

"You couldn't tell me sooner that we could've gone for coffee?" Blaine asked him.

Sam rolled his eyes. "You could've said something. But hey, at least you know now that you're not the only one here who likes coffee. You could be… coffee buddies, or something."

As he followed Sam to the guest room, Blaine looked around. The house looked very nice, and it seemed very cosy – something his own house was not, as least not as much.

Before long, the front door opened and closed again, and within moments, the guy Blaine now knew was Finn came stuck his head around Sam's door. "Hey, dude," he greeted Sam, before catching sight of Blaine. "Who's this?"

"This is Blaine," Sam replied. "He's on the swimming team with me, and he may want to join Glee club as well. Apparently, he was the lead singer of the Warblers last year so he's definitely good."

"The Warblers?" Finn asked. "Are you here to spy?"

"No, of course not," Blaine responded. "I go to McKinley now. My parents couldn't afford Dalton anymore."

"And even if he was a spy, he wasn't really going to tell us, Finn," Kurt piped up from somewhere behind Finn.

Blaine smiled at that. "Yes, that too," he admitted. "But I swear I'm not a spy," he quickly added when Finn shot him a distrusting look.

A while later, the three boys were sitting in the living room, playing some video game Blaine had never played before. He figured that might be a good thing, though, seeing as Finn beating him seemed to make the taller boy like him more. At some point, Kurt came downstairs, shot the three of them a look, and disappeared into the kitchen. Finn and Sam paid him no mind, but Blaine was somewhat curious about what took him so long. Right when he wanted to ask Finn and Sam about this, the front door opened again, and moments later, a man walked into the room.

"Hey, Burt," Finn greeted him, his eyes still fixed to the screen. How did he do that?

"Hey, Finn. Sam," the man replied, before he looked at Blaine. Not unkindly, he asked, "Who're you?"

Blaine cleared his throat. "Blaine Anderson, sir. I'm – a friend of Sam's." They'd only known each other for a couple of hours, but Blaine hoped that Sam wouldn't mind that title, at least while this man was still in the room.

"You're in that Glee club, too, then?" the man asked.

"No, sir," Blaine replied. "I'm not. Not yet, at least."

"He's on Sam's swimming team," Finn supplied.

The man scrutinised Blaine for a few seconds before asking, "The swimming team, huh? Are you any good?"

"I'm… decent, I hope," Blaine replied, still slightly nervous. "I've only been at McKinley for a few weeks now, and my old school didn't have a synchronised swimming team, so I'm really just starting."

The man nodded, and then he stood up and walked into the kitchen. About a minute later, he returned, an exasperated look on his face.

"Is Kurt making you eat healthy stuff again?" Finn asked, sounding a little too sympathetic.

The man grunted. "It's been _over a year_," he then said, probably loud enough for Kurt to hear him as well. "Aren't I old enough to decide what's healthy for me and what's not?"

"Kurt often makes the rest of us eat healthy as well," Sam muttered to Blaine in a low voice. "It's good for my abs, but Burt and Finn don't like it very much."

"Well, I'm sorry for not wanting you to die any time soon." Kurt was standing in the doorway, looking entirely unimpressed by the complaints of his father and stepbrother. Before they could continue bickering, they were interrupted by a loud noise.

"Oh!" Blaine jumped up. "Sorry! I forgot to – " He frowned down at the text he'd just received. Predictably, his mother was enquiring where he was and what was keeping him. "I forgot to let my mom know I'm here. I think I should be going." He put his phone back in his pocket and smiled apologetically at Finn and Sam – they were in the middle of a game, after all. After thanking the family for their hospitality, he left the house and drove back home. His mother wouldn't be too angry, he thought; in fact, she would probably be happy that he was making friends.

o-o-o-o-o

The next morning, Blaine left a little early in order to get some coffee at the Lima Bean. As he arrived there, he suddenly remembered Sam telling him the day before that Kurt got his coffee here as well. Blaine hadn't come here an awful lot yet, and he hadn't bumped into the other boy so far. Then again, he didn't know if Kurt only came here after school, or before school as well.

Why was he even thinking about that in the first place?

As he waited for his coffee to be made, he suddenly heard, "Hey, Blaine!"

And yes, there he was. "Kurt," he acknowledged the other boy with a smile. "Good morning."

"I didn't know you were a caffeine addict as well," Kurt remarked. "If I'd have known, I would've brought you a cup yesterday."

Blaine shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I am. But if I had known you were making a detour yesterday, I would've done so as well. Sam didn't mention it until we arrived at your house."

By now, both boys had gotten their drinks. "Do you want to sit down for a bit?" Kurt asked. "We still have some time to get to school." Blaine nodded, and they found themselves a table. "So…," Kurt started, "excuse me for asking, but… why the synchronised swimming team?"

Blaine chuckled, and proceeded to give Kurt the same explanation as he'd given Sam the day before. "Everyone asks that question," he added. "Still, it would surprise you how many people are on the team. I'd definitely say at least twenty."

"Well, at least it's not as uncool as Glee club," Kurt replied. "And I suppose your coach is intimidating enough to scare of most people who would give you trouble for being on the team in the first place."

"Your Glee club is really that uncool?" Blaine asked, frowning slightly. "In that case, I might have to rethink my decision to join. I don't really want to give anyone anymore reason to pick on me."

"It hasn't been as bad this year," Kurt told him. "Last year and the year before that, it tended to get really bad sometimes. There were weeks when we'd all get slushied daily, and now it happens at most once a month to one or two of us. Most of the bullies were in the year above us or in the same year, so they graduated already or they finally realised that causing trouble isn't going to give them any advantage when it comes to getting into college somewhere." He studied Blaine for a moment before continuing. "Of course, it's your own decision. If you don't want to join, then you shouldn't join."

Before he fully realised what he was saying, Blaine said, "Yesterday, Sam told me that one of his friends wanted to transfer to Dalton last year. Was that you?"

"He told you that?" Kurt seemed surprised. "Well – yes, that was me. It was too expensive, though, and the other guys had already figured out some sort of schedule that made sure at least one, but preferably two, of them were with me at all times when I wasn't at home."

"Wow." Blaine shook his head in disbelief. "That's really… nice of them. I hope you don't mind Sam telling me, though. He was just curious as to why I would leave such a place."

Kurt nodded in understanding. "No, it's fine. As long as he doesn't go around telling anyone he meets about it, I don't mind. Now – I think we should get going."

"Same time, same place tomorrow?" Blaine asked, wondering when he'd suddenly become so daring.

Kurt looked up in surprise, and he eyed Blaine for a few seconds before replying. "Sure. I'll be there."

o-o-o-o-o

As it turned out, Blaine didn't have to wait until the next day to see Kurt again. He instantly scolded himself for thinking this, though. Kurt seemed like a nice guy, sure, but that didn't necessarily mean that Blaine actively looked forward to seeing him again.

Apparently, the director of the Glee club wanted to propose to his girlfriend, who, Blaine was somewhat shocked to learn, was the school's guidance counsellor. Dalton, after all, had a strict no-dating-amongst-the-staff-members policy. Anyway, the club had been asked to help come up with a way to propose, and Sam had suggested that they perform a number in the pool.

With the help of the synchronised swimming team.

Blaine supposed that this could, in a way, work to his advantage as well – he could now see what the other members of the show choir were like, and base his decision of whether or not to join on that.

Surprisingly, coach Washington was also on board – she instructed the swimming team, while the Glee club (including Sam) tried to figure out what they could contribute to the act. Today, Blaine had remembered to call his parents that he'd be home late – the proposal was to take place tomorrow, so they had a lot of rehearsing to do.

When it was time to take a break, Blaine fully intended to sit with his teammates. He might want to know what the Glee club was like, but he didn't really want to bail out on the people who'd been there for him since he'd come here. However, as he was putting on his bathrobe, a voice said, "Hey. Fancy seeing you here."

Since he wasn't a member of the synchronised swimming team, Kurt wasn't wearing a robe; he simply had a towel around his neck. For a moment, Blaine was distracted by Kurt's hair, as the water dripped from it onto his face and further down –

Blaine cleared his throat awkwardly. "Hey. Kurt." He ran a hand through his hair, barely noticing the way Kurt's eyes followed this movement. "How's it going?"

"It's harder than it looks," Kurt admitted. "It's a lot of fun, too, though."

"You should join the team," Blaine exclaimed enthusiastically. "The more the merrier, right? And you're right, it's really fun."

"Thanks, but I think I'll decline," Kurt replied, shrugging apologetically. "I'm already busy enough as it is."

They continued talking for a few more minutes, until Blaine realised that most of his team was back in the pool. Hastily shrugging off his robe – and completely missing the way Kurt stared at his chest for a second – he said, "I should go back in, too. I'll see you around, I suppose?"

Kurt nodded. "Yeah – wait, what does this say?" He picked up Blaine's robe and studied the back of it. "Gellyfish?" he asked confusedly.

Blaine winced. "Yes. Everyone on the team has a robe like that with their own… water related nickname. When I first came here to ask if I could join, coach Washington called me, well, _that_, and I guess it stuck. Even though she told me to make sure to wash it all out before getting in the water, or else I have to clean the pool myself. So…"

Kurt looked amused. "You _do_ wear an awful lot of gel normally."

"If I don't gel it, it gets incredibly curly and unmanageable after it dries," Blaine told him.

"I bet it looks cute," Kurt countered. "I mean – sorry, was that out of line? I'll just… go now."

Blaine stared after him as he went. Had Kurt figured him out? Did he know Blaine was gay? Or had he simply been caught in the moment?

Taking a deep breath, Blaine attempted to clear his thoughts. It didn't matter. He needed to focus on getting ready for this proposal thing, and after that, he could just… figure out what to do next. It worried him slightly that his decision whether or not to join the Glee club now depended not so much on what the other kids were like, but what he wanted to do about Kurt.

o-o-o-o-o

The next day, Blaine arrived at the Lima Bean ten minutes earlier than he had the day before. It pleased him to no end that two minutes later, Kurt came in. Today, they talked about movies and books and classes – nothing too deep, but definitely important knowledge, Blaine figured.

In between classes, they exchanged smiles if they happened to pass one another in the hallways, and when it was time for lunch, Blaine found himself glancing around for Kurt as inconspicuously as possible.

Unfortunately for him, that wasn't very inconspicuous.

"They usually spend lunch break in the choir room," Tara, one of his teammates, suddenly said.

"What?" Blaine stared at her with wide eyes.

"The Glee club," Sophie said. "That's who you were looking for, right?"

"What's going on between you and Kurt Hummel anyway?" Tara asked. "You're always staring when he passes you in the corridors nowadays, and you spent your break with him instead of us yesterday. Are you dating, or something?"

"What?" Blaine repeated. "No, of course not!"

"Because it would explain a lot if you were gay," Norah continued, and Blaine was sort of glad that the people around them were all immersed in their own conversations. "Why you're not interested in any of the girls throwing themselves at you, for instance."

"I think it'd be sweet," Sophie commented. "You know, if you and Kurt were dating. I doubt a lot of people would care, and if anyone would give you trouble, I'm sure coach would rip them apart."

"You… don't care?" Blaine asked, baffled. "But… I thought – are you really okay with it?"

The three girls shrugged. "Of course," Tara responded. "I'm sure the rest of the team would be as well. We actually spied on you a bit yesterday. Most of us girls think it would be cute. Maybe some of the guys would be a little uncomfortable with it at first, but they'll get over it."

"I'm not dating Kurt, though," Blaine felt the need to specify.

"We'll help you figure something out," Norah promised.

* * *

**A/N**: So... what do you think? :) Let me know, please review!

PS: there's a sequel to this now - it's called 'Operation Klaine' and can be found on my page, for those interested :)


	51. Pilot II

**A/N**: This is another one of those celebratory chapters, of sorts; not because of the content, but because it's now exactly a year ago that I posted the first chapter to this story :) which, frankly, is also pretty hard to believe, so, a big thanks to everyone who's read, reviewed, favourited, and alerted this story! I doubt it'd still be going if it wasn't for you :) And, for the people who hadn't seen it yet, I actually wrote and posted a sequel to the previous chapter. It's called 'Operation Klaine' and you can find it on my page, if you're interested.  
Now, this chapter... it's based on a prompt from an anon going by _JustCause_, who asked for a Kurt and Blaine at the ND auditions. As you're about to see, once again, I didn't completely follow the prompt, in that they actually meet before (but still on the same day as) the auditions. I hope that's not too big a problem :) I hope it all makes sense, too.

Hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and please remember to leave a review at the bottom! :D

* * *

Well. This was it. Blaine Anderson took a deep breath before getting out of his car. After double-checking that it was locked, he made his way towards the school in front of him.

McKinley High.

After what had happened last school year, he wasn't about to go back to his previous school, and luckily, his parents had understood and agreed. They had given him a choice: he could go to Dalton Academy in the fall, a private school about an hour and a half away from where they'd moved over the summer, and start again as a freshman, due to Dalton's curriculum being much more difficult and much more intensive than that of an average public school, or be home-schooled for the remainder of the past school year and try another public school.

It had been terribly tempting to just go to Dalton. It had a zero tolerance policy against bullying, and Blaine would be completely safe there. Scared as he was, though, he still felt like he was giving up. Like he was letting his bullies win.

So he'd decided to start again at another public school, one where nobody knew him, and see if that went any better. He could always decide to switch to Dalton, his mother had told him.

Nobody bothered him as he walked towards the front doors, though that might have to do with the fact that a bunch of beefy guys were all standing around a smaller boy already, seeming intent on throwing him in the trash or something. Blaine shuddered.

He wanted to help, but he also wanted to survive. Whatever his eventual plan would be, though, he now had to find his way towards his first class. He'd get settled first, he figured, and then he'd attempt to help out kids in need.

If he himself wasn't about to become such a kid.

o-o-o-o-o

A week later, Blaine was slowly getting used to McKinley High. His classmates had shot him some curious looks during his first few days, but when it became clear that he was more than happy to fade in the background – for now, at least – they mostly left him alone.

One girl, though, did approach him, and, apparently not having much of a gaydar, asked him if she could make out with him. He'd walked away from her as quickly as possible.

Now he was standing in front of the notice board, looking it up and down in an attempt to find a nice extracurricular. Although he liked to watch sports on TV or from the stands, he wasn't really the type to play himself. Plus, if word got out that he was, in fact, gay, the other guys would give him hell in the locker room, he suspected.

In the end, he took out a scrap of paper and jotted down the possible extracurriculars on it, so he could think it all over when he got home. Then he saw it. A Glee club? He felt a smile tug at his lips. If there was one thing he loved most in the world, it was singing. Without really thinking about it, he shoved the piece of paper back in his bag and scribbled down his name on the sign-up sheet, underneath Mercedes Jones and Kurt Hummel, who were the only other two students who'd signed up for the club.

Oh well. Blaine was certain that more people would show an interest. He turned on his heel and made his way out of the school. The first auditions would be taking place the next day already, so Blaine had to make sure he found a good song to sing. Mentally going through all the songs on his iPod, Blaine drove home.

o-o-o-o-o

The next morning, Blaine was standing at his locker before first period, minding his own business. All of a sudden, something came flying at him. Something ice cold, wet, and sticky. He stood there, gasping, while the other students just sent him sideways glances and walked away.

What had just happened? Perhaps more importantly, why had it happened?

He closed his locker almost mechanically, not daring to make any unnecessary movements, but before he could do anything else, he heard footsteps. Great. He'd thought everyone had left already.

"Are you okay?" a voice came, and Blaine looked up. After what had just happened, he hadn't expected anyone to worry about his wellbeing. He just shrugged in reply, and the boy in front of him nodded. "Come on," he said, and he directed Blaine to the nearest bathroom. Only when they were inside, Blaine realised that it was, in fact, the girls' bathroom.

"We're – why are we _here_?" he asked.

"It's safer than the boys' bathroom." The boy started looking through his book bag, and Blaine sniffed.

"What's that smell?" he asked. He certainly hoped it wasn't – no, he didn't even want to think it.

"My early morning dumpster toss," the boy replied, and Blaine was shocked by the ease he said it with. "I was lucky someone threw out a lot of plastic yesterday, I suppose. Though the stench is still awful."

Only now did Blaine recognise him as the boy he'd seen standing near the trash on his first day. "I'm sorry," he muttered.

The boy shrugged. "You're not the one doing it, right? And… I guess that's what I get." He frowned. "Here you go. Just – can you give me your jacket? You can wash your hair with this. At least the slushie hit you from behind; otherwise, it would've gotten in your eyes, and that's not pleasant at all."

"That's what you get?" Blaine asked, accepting the soft towel the boy had taken from his bag. "For…" He didn't want to assume, but it seemed to be the only option. "For being gay?"

"For… being me," the boy responded. "I don't even know. I just – I'm not even _completely_ sure of it, but with my voice, my clothes… people just assume." He scoffed. "I wouldn't even have to come out anymore."

Blaine shuddered. "Great," he muttered. This school might be even worse than his previous one, and he was beginning to regret his decision to try another public school.

"Great?" the boy echoed, suddenly seeming to become defensive. "What? That you're now stuck in a bathroom with – "

"No!" Blaine hastily interrupted him, trying to find a good stance to wash his hair in. "That this school's so homophobic. I'd hoped it'd be better than the last, but… clearly not."

He could feel the other boy's eyes at him as he tried to get rid of the slushie – that must've been it – in his hair. He could hear the other faucet being turned on as the boy tried to get the stains out of his jacket.

"So they – they know you're… gay?" the boy hesitantly asked after a few minutes of silence.

Blaine sighed. "Not as far as I know. Maybe it was just to welcome me to the school?"

"Oh, right, you're the new guy," the boy said. "I didn't even think of that. I'm sorry that had to happen."

"It's fine," Blaine replied, as he tried to dry his hair with the towel. "Thanks for helping me out, by the way."

"That's fine," the boy echoed him. "Oh – I'm Kurt Hummel, by the way." He held out his hand, and Blaine grasped it eagerly.

"Blaine Anderson, but you already knew that. Wait – you're Kurt Hummel? You signed up for Glee club as well, right?"

Kurt shifted on his feet. "Yeah, I did. You too?" Blaine nodded happily; at least he knew someone now. "They must've seen the sign-up sheet, then," Kurt muttered. "Glee club… is not exactly cool at this school. The old one just got disbanded, but chances are the new one won't be any more popular."

"Maybe it will." People always said Blaine was sometimes optimistic at the least opportune times.

"Maybe it will," Kurt conceded. "Come on. I think we're done here." As they walked out, he added, "You know, I've never met another – I mean, a gay guy my age."

o-o-o-o-o

When Blaine looked for Kurt (and eventually found him) during lunch break, they talked briefly about the other potential club members. Blaine heard from Kurt that Mercedes Jones was also a sophomore, like them, and she was probably a decent enough singer.

"Why are we sitting out here anyway?" Blaine asked at some point. If anyone were to find them here, they might just think the two boys were doing… stuff in the bushes.

"I was sitting here in order to escape the jocks," Kurt replied. "You were the one to sit with me."

"You're the only person who's talked to me for longer than a minute so far," Blaine reasoned. "Plus, us gays have to stick together, don't we?"

Kurt rolled his eyes at Blaine's face. "You may be right. Though, if you want to keep your sexuality a secret for a bit longer, you may want to avoid me, instead of hanging out with me."

"Perhaps they'll leave us alone if there's more of us," Blaine said. "You know, then it's not all against one. And there's an actual witness. It might become easier – for us, I mean."

"There'll also be at least five witnesses who will state the opposite," Kurt retorted. "Well, we can always hope for the best, I guess."

o-o-o-o-o

Before Blaine knew it, classes were over and it was time for Glee auditions, which were to be held in the auditorium. As he walked past the notice board, he snuck a glance at it. The sign-up sheet for Glee club was covered in red slushie. That didn't bode well, Blaine realised.

When he arrived at the auditorium, he appeared to be the first to get there. However, from inside, he could hear a girl singing her lungs out.

"That's Mercedes," Kurt, whom Blaine hadn't even heard approach, said. "Come on, we need to get backstage. This is the audience entrance."

"Are you nervous?" Blaine asked as they walked.

"Not really," Kurt admitted. "I would be, but did you see the auditions list? There are only about six people interested in joining. I'm not sure if Schuester has much of a choice."

"Do you mind if I listen to your audition?" Blaine then asked, figuring that Kurt had a point. He would really like to hear his new friend (or whatever they were) sing. He had a pretty unique voice, after all.

"Only if I get to hear you as well," Kurt responded. Blaine didn't really have a problem with that.

Soon, the girl who was, apparently, Mercedes Jones, walked out. She seemed surprised to see both boys there already, but she didn't mention anything except that it was Kurt's turn now.

Blaine snuck in after Kurt, missing only the first part of his introduction. He'd been right about Kurt's singing, however – he was amazing. He didn't get the chance to gush, though – he had to take Kurt's place immediately. He hoped that the grin on his face would be enough for Kurt to know that Blaine had enjoyed his performance immensely.

"Hi," he said, feeling only slightly uncomfortable. There was only one teacher in the audience, so Blaine assumed that must be Mr Schuester. "I'm Blaine Anderson," he introduced himself. "I'll be singing _You belong with me_ by Taylor Swift." Well, after hearing Kurt, he figured he'd best only sing the chorus, which he did.

When he was done, Mr Schuester thanked him for coming in, and sent him off. He didn't even have to call anyone else in. Apparently, there was still a class going on, so the other people auditioning would be there a little later.

He then walked backstage, where Kurt was standing with an amused smile on his face. "Taylor Swift?" he asked Blaine, shooting him a judging look. "Really, Blaine?"

"What?" Blaine asked, as they walked out. "She's a great singer. And yeah, I probably would've chosen something else, but this was the best I could do at such short notice."

"You sounded great, though," Kurt admitted.

Before he could say anything else, Blaine interrupted him. "So were you! And I love _Chicago_! It's one of my favourite musicals of all time."

Kurt smiled for real now. "Really?"

"Hey, didn't I already tell you I'm gay?" Blaine joked, glancing around quickly in order to make sure no one could hear what he was saying. "I like musicals."

"Do you want to watch it?" Kurt asked, sounding a little hesitant. "I was planning on watching it after school anyway; you can join me if you want to?"

"Now?" Blaine asked. "Sure, I'd love to! I just need to… tell my parents where I'm going."

o-o-o-o-o

The house wasn't exceptionally big, but it was homey, and Blaine was amazed when he heard that Kurt's room was in the basement. "This is amazing," he said, glancing around.

"It took a lot of hard work, but it was worth it," Kurt said. "Hey, Blaine?"

Blaine looked up from the bookcase he was inspecting. "Yeah?"

"What happened at your old school?" Kurt asked. "You said that… it was pretty bad there, but did something happen that forced you to leave?" Blaine took a moment to answer, so Kurt quickly added, "If you don't want to talk about it – sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"No, that's fine," Blaine replied. "But – yeah. Can we discuss this some other time? I'm not really… comfortable with discussing that yet. That's not the reason we moved, though. We did that for my dad's job, so even if nothing had happened at my old school, I'd still probably have started at McKinley this year."

Kurt nodded. "Okay. Sure. Whenever you're ready. Shall we go upstairs, then?"

Noticing that Kurt had already found his _Chicago_ DVD, Blaine smiled happily. "Of course." Once they were upstairs, he asked, "Kurt? You know… if something's bothering you, you can talk to me as well, okay? Bullies, or… something else."

Kurt looked moderately surprised. "Thanks, Blaine. Would you believe that it's hard to imagine already that we only met about eight hours ago?"

"I'm actually glad you said that," Blaine replied. "It seems the same way to me." A few seconds later, he asked, "Your parents won't mind that you invited someone over, though?"

Kurt shrugged. "I think my dad'll just be relieved I finally seem to be making friends."

Blaine frowned. "Your mom… doesn't live here?" He glanced around the room, in search for pictures.

"She's dead," Kurt replied quietly. "But – you know." He sighed. "Maybe that's why – I think I'm gay, but what would my dad do if I told him? He's all I have left."

"And you're all he has left," Blaine countered, rubbing Kurt's shoulder awkwardly. "I'm sure he'll… be okay with it."

"Let's not talk about this now," Kurt decided. "We have a musical to watch, remember?"

o-o-o-o-o

In the end, Blaine left before Kurt's father came home from work. His own mother, like Kurt had predicted his father to react, seemed glad that Blaine was making friends. She was less happy, however, when she found out that there were still slushie stains on Blaine's clothes. He tried to convince her that it had been an accident, and could only hope that she believed him. Otherwise, she'd probably soon ship him off to Dalton. Blaine figured he'd have to start using the advice Kurt had given him at some point during the day – always make sure he packed a second outfit.

When he arrived at school the next day, Blaine instantly noticed the jocks standing around the dumpster again. Once more, Kurt seemed to be their target. He was about to tell them to stop harassing him – although he wasn't sure how he could accomplish this – when Kurt caught his eye and shook his head minutely.

Blaine didn't immediately understand, but then realised that Kurt didn't seem to want him to help. After all, there wasn't much he could do, and Kurt had told him himself that Blaine might become a target as well if he helped. It was too late for anything like that, though – the jocks had notice Blaine standing there.

While some of them looked confused, others sneered at him. A guy with a mohawk grinned widely. "Ah, look, it's his boyfriend coming to save him!" he exclaimed mockingly.

"Disgusting fags," Blaine heard one of the other jocks mutter, before he was scooped up and dragged over to the dumpster. He felt a small wave of satisfaction wash over him when he kicked one of the people carrying him in the face, but, in the end, this only resulted in the others just dropping him on the concrete.

"We don't want people like you here," another boy said.

Kurt scoffed. "You've sure got a funny way of showing it. Why are you dragging us over here, then?"

"To make sure queers like you are put in your place," the mohawked guy said, narrowing his eyes as Blaine finally managed to get up. The biggest guy in the bunch instantly grabbed his arms. "In the trash, where you belong."

"That doesn't even – " Kurt started, but a couple of jocks grabbed him and threw him in the dumpster, while Blaine had to watch, horrified.

"Why would you – " he wanted to ask, but then, he was tossed in the trash as well, and he groaned. This was _disgusting_.

"Blaine?" Kurt's voice came after a minute, when the jocks had left. "Are you okay?"

"I've been better," Blaine muttered. He sighed. "At least they didn't throw me on top of you."

"Come on," Kurt told him. "Let's get out of here." Blaine wasn't sure if he wanted to know the reason behind it, but Kurt was out of the dumpster rather quickly. "At least it wasn't almost empty today. That's when it hurts the most."

Blaine nodded, finally managing to climb out. "Good thing these things aren't any bigger, too."

Kurt almost smiled. "If we hurry, we might even still be in time for first period."

Blaine eyed him questioningly. "Don't we need to change clothes?"

"If you want to," Kurt replied. "They're not… really dirty, though. And everyone in this school smells, so they wouldn't notice the difference. You'd better put those extra clothes in your locker for when you get slushied. You'll need them more then than you do now."

o-o-o-o-o

And indeed, Blaine spent most of his lunch break cleaning himself up after being brutally slushied again – by two people at once. He hoped that Kurt wouldn't be worried about him or anything; it had only now occurred to him that they didn't have each other's phone numbers.

Kurt _did_ seem surprised when Blaine sat next to him during their final period of the day – perhaps he thought Blaine had ditched him in order to not be a target? – but agreed to exchange numbers. Blaine also figured that he should try to get home before his mother that day; if she, like Kurt, noticed him change of clothes… well, things would be bad.

After class, they walked to the choir room together. Blaine, having never been there before, thought it was a pretty nice room, all in all. Soon, the other club members, Mr Schuester, and the piano man came in, and Blaine surveyed them all from his seat near the wall.

There were only six members, including Kurt and Blaine. Apart from them, there were also a boy in a wheelchair, an Asian girl, a short brunette, and the girl they'd heard auditioning yesterday.

"This should be interesting," Blaine muttered, and Kurt pulled a face, obviously thinking something along the same lines.

It was quite interesting indeed. Mr Schuester made them rehearse a song Blaine had never heard of before, only giving them a few pointers when it came to choreography. Then the short brunette, Blaine thought her name was Rachel, blew up at them and ran off. When their director soon went after her, the other students left as well.

"It's so weird," Blaine remarked as they stood at Kurt's locker. "From what I could hear, we're all pretty decent singers, but that was just…"

"I know," Kurt said when Blaine found himself lost for words. "We'll get better. I just hope that Rachel won't hog all the solos." He sighed. "Who am I kidding? She probably will."

"She seems… very strong-willed," Blaine agreed.

Kurt looked thoughtful. "Why don't we find out for ourselves? I bet that's what they're talking about – come on, they probably went outside or something!"

He hastily closed his locker and stalked off, and Blaine hurriedly followed.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Blaine whispered as they walked beneath what seemed like the bleachers. "What if someone sees us here? That'll make for some nice rumours."

It surprised him that Kurt actually laughed at this – well, he chuckled. But still. "Rachel's awful," he replied, ignoring the second part of what Blaine just said. "She's this… spoiled brat who thinks she's better than everyone else, while in reality, people hate her more than the two of us combined. Sorry."

"So we're spying on her and Mr Schuester because…?" Blaine asked.

"At least we'll know beforehand what they're cooking up," Kurt replied. "We'll be prepared when they tell us. If they even tell us. Besides, by doing this, we can be even more certain that most jocks have already left once we leave."

Blaine shrugged. "Fair enough. I think we're here, by the way."

" – I need a male lead who can keep up with me vocally," they heard Rachel exclaim, and the boys exchanged exasperated glances. After Mr Schuester's suggestion of coaching Artie was shot down by the girl, she added, "And don't even think about considering either Kurt or Blaine for that role. Besides the fact that Kurt's voice is too high to be a male lead, they're gay. And not as in 'happy', gay, but as in, likes guys. I have two gay dads, so I have nothing against them at all. But you can't expect me to have chemistry with either of them, because they're just not up for that yet."

"Maybe she _should_ just quit," Kurt muttered angrily as they trudged back to the school building. "At least we wouldn't have to put up with her diva antics anymore."

"Well, at least neither of us has to fake chemistry with her now," Blaine pointed out.

Kurt pulled a face. "I doubt there's anyone Rachel could have real chemistry with. Even if there were, no one besides us has joined Glee club, right? I doubt Mr Schue will be able to find anyone."

Blaine shrugged. "Who knows." By now, they'd arrived at the (mostly empty) parking lot. "So, I'll see you tomorrow, then?" he asked.

Kurt nodded. "Of course. Just… don't worry about me, okay? We know now that, whether there's one or two of us, they're going to bully us. I don't want you to go through more abuse than you would've gotten if it hadn't been for me."

Blaine sighed exaggeratedly. "Well, I think we both know that won't work… we'll figure it out along the way, okay? One day, they'll wish they hadn't pushed us around so much."

"I don't doubt that," Kurt agreed. "See you tomorrow, Blaine."

Blaine walked off in the opposite direction, towards his own car, suddenly realising that, while he'd only be seeing Kurt tomorrow, they might be speaking long before that. He had Kurt's number, after all. First, however, he needed to beat his mother home, and wash his clothes. But it was all worth it, he decided.

* * *

**A/N**: I think that, in this AU, Sue will call them 'gay' and 'other gay' when she decides to split up the group, much like she called Tina and Mike 'Asian' and 'other Asian'. Kurt and Blaine probably have no idea who's who in Sue's mind.

Anyway, what did you think? :) Let me know, please review!


	52. Never been kissed III

**A/N**: Just a (relatively) short chapter this time. And also a not so happy one. It was requested by an anon some time ago, and I hope it lives up to the expectations :) I don't really have anything to add here... so, yeah. Hopefully you'll enjoy this one, and please leave a review at the bottom :)

* * *

Blaine didn't think he'd stopped muttering angrily to himself the entire way from Dalton to McKinley. _Yes_, the council had said, _you definitely are the best man for this job_. After all, Blaine didn't have to learn all the harmonies for their new song. Instead of just sitting there and occasionally attempting to help out, the council had sent him to go spy on their Sectionals competition. Since when did the Warblers spy on their competition anyway? Weren't they above that, or something?

Currently, Blaine was already in the McKinley High parking lot. He wondered what would've happened if he'd refused to go. Knowing Wes, he'd probably have threatened to take Blaine's solo away from him. Now Blaine wondered if they'd only given him this solo in order to be able to send him away to spy. That sounded slightly ridiculous, though.

The first thing Blaine noticed as he entered the school was, well, there were cliques everywhere. It must be around lunch time, Blaine guessed; a lot of people were heading the same way. Besides, as he followed the students at a slower pace, he could smell food he hadn't smelt since he'd left his previous school.

No. He had no time for lunch; he had a mission. Find the choir room and see if they're doing something, anything. There had been no videos on the internet, after all. When Nick had proposed putting microphones and cameras around the choir room, David had countered that, if those were found and they'd somehow managed to film or witness Blaine putting them up, the Warblers would be in a lot of trouble – bigger than the trouble they'd be in if they just caught Blaine now, apparently.

As Blaine walked aimlessly through the halls of McKinley High, he wondered briefly why the school didn't just put up signs to point out where important places could be found.

Out of nowhere, he heard a loud noise; almost as if someone punched a locker or something. Blaine hesitantly took a step forward, when suddenly, a set of doors flew open and the beefiest jock Blaine thought he'd ever seen in his entire life came stomping out. Blaine watched him with wide eyes, and the other guy just scowled at him. Or, well, that was what Blaine thought – before he could take another step, the jock had pushed him against the set of lockers to Blaine's left.

Well, that had been a long time ago.

Hissing slightly, Blaine got up again and dusted himself off. His shoulder would be bruised and unusable tomorrow, he feared. The jock had long since run off.

Once more, Blaine walked towards the doors the jock had thrown open not a minute earlier, and he pulled a face. The locker room. Awesome. He made to walk away again when he heard a whimper – or, he thought he did. Either way, Blaine looked around the room swiftly. Nothing. He was about to turn away again when something caught his eye. A boy, standing stock-still in the corner of the locker room. He seemed terrified.

Blaine wasn't sure what to do. He wanted to help this boy, but how to go about that? If he'd speak up or just approach the boy, he might just scare him even more. On the other hand, if he'd just keep standing here and the boy eventually caught sight of him – well, that wasn't ideal either.

In the end, Blaine figured that it might be best to just speak up. If he cleared his throat, the boy might think that the jock – who Blaine was certain was responsible for this – had returned. Knowing that he sounded incredibly stupid and that it was clear enough that the boy was anything but, Blaine asked, "Are you okay?"

The boy's eyes immediately found him. Holding his gaze, Blaine slowly approached. The boy kept eyeing him with a calculating look in his eyes.

When there were only a few feet between them, Blaine asked, "What did he do?"

This seemed to pull the boy out of whatever trance he was in. "What?" he asked. He seemed to almost shrink back against the lockers even more, one hand against his mouth and the other wrapped around his waist.

"That jock that just walked out of here," Blaine clarified. "What did he do to you?"

The boy started shaking his head. "He didn't – why are you – "

"I heard someone slam… his fist into a locker," Blaine replied. "Something must've happened. And you look scared to death." He took another step forward, tentatively, and held out a hand. "Do you… want to get out of here? It kind of smells and I doubt staying here is doing your nerves any good."

The boy nodded quickly. "Yeah," he said. "Please. We can – we can go to the choir room. It should be deserted now."

Blaine nodded, allowing the boy to step away from the lockers whenever he was ready and to lead the way. So nobody was using the choir room now anyway. Well, he'd really arrived at an unfortunate time.

On the other hand – who knew what would've happened to this boy if he hadn't been around. Or was he now exaggerating his role here?

Before he knew it, they stepped into a room that was, indeed, deserted. As the other boy turned on the lights, Blaine looked around. So this was McKinley's choir room. There was a piano, and several other instruments; a whole lot of chairs at the opposite side of the room, and a trophy of sorts.

"So… what happened?" Blaine asked, walking over to the chairs. The other boy had already taken a seat there. "Oh – I'm Blaine, by the way." Perhaps, it wasn't the cleverest thing to do in his situation, but he doubted he'd get any real spying done today.

"Kurt," the boy replied. "I don't remember seeing you around here…"

As he was being studied by the boy – Kurt – Blaine felt slightly uncomfortable. "Yeah," he said. "That seems about right. But whatever that guy did to you, I'm not going to… repeat it, or anything."

Kurt's eyes twitched, as if he'd wanted to roll them, but rethought that move at the last moment. "No offense," he said in the end, "but I think it'd be easier for me to push _you_ off than – than Karofsky." Blaine decided not to say anything to prove that argument wrong, not wanting the boy to start panicking. "He's a bully," Kurt continued. "Of course, the school's full of them, but he's… definitely the worst."

Blaine grew slightly alarmed. "A bully?" he asked. "What does he do? Why?"

Kurt shot him a non-understanding look. "Why?" He sighed. "Because I'm gay. He – pushes me around, into lockers, multiple times a day. Sometimes, they slushie me. Stuff like that. Verbal abuse, too, of course."

"I'm so sorry," Blaine almost whispered. "Did he… beat you up, earlier?"

Kurt shook his head minutely and looked away, at the closed door. "I wish he'd done that," he replied quietly. "No, it's – worse. I can't. I can't tell you."

"Not even if I promise not to tell anyone else?" Blaine tried. "It sounds like he did something horrible to you. If you're not going to tell me, who will you tell? Do you have any friends you can talk to about this? Parents? Or – "

"No," Kurt said. "No, I don't, alright?"

"It helps to talk about it," Blaine objected. "Talking is – "

"_Talking_ is not going to get me my first kiss back," Kurt interrupted him. "_Talking_ is not going to miraculously undo what just happened, _talking_ doesn't make this right again. I just got… assaulted by my bully who turned out to be some sort of… closet case. Talking isn't going to make it so that that never happened and talking isn't going to make me feel any less dirty and used. And my friends, and my dad… they have so much going on in their lives, they shouldn't have to worry about me on top of everything else."

Blaine stared at him for a few seconds after he was done talking. He wanted to hug the other boy, but didn't think he'd react very well to that now. "God, Kurt," he said in the end. "I – don't know what to say. That's horrible. But… not talking about this – that's not going to stop him from doing it again. I'm glad you told me, because that's not something you should be keeping to yourself, but…" He swallowed and stood up. "Come on," he said.

Kurt looked at him confusedly. "Where are we going?"

"To confront him," Blaine decided then and there. "Tell him to lay off on you."

Kurt's eyes widened now. "No! Blaine, you can't do that! It won't help. If anything, he's just going to be pissed because I told someone."

"But – ," Blaine stammered. "You want to do _nothing_?"

"I think that's the best thing to do for now," Kurt muttered. "Why are you so adamant anyway? You don't even know the guy, I don't even know you."

Blaine sank back down on his chair and let out a deep breath. "I was bullied at my old school," he replied quietly. "No one did anything. They – just seemed to think I should accept being pushed around because I'm gay. So I ran. I didn't fight back. And, as you probably can see, I really hate myself for that."

"I'm sorry," Kurt muttered. A few seconds later, he asked, "If you wanted to escape bullies so badly, why on earth did you come to McKinley?"

"I don't… really go here," Blaine confessed. "I mean, I'm here now, but… my teammates sent me. To spy on the show choir here."

"You're a Warbler, then?" Kurt asked. "Okay, well, obviously I can't very well let you stay here and watch our rehearsal later."

Blaine nodded. "Yeah, I know. I'll just tell them that… something came up. Something happened. Or that you weren't rehearsing. It's fine, I don't need to tell them anything."

Kurt nodded. "Thanks. For… listening. And not telling anyone."

"No problem," Blaine responded. He hesitated for a moment, before adding, "You should check out Dalton's website. Mid-year transfers aren't that common, but if this harassment gets any worse… you can't very well stay here."

"I'll look into that," Kurt promised. "And… I'll walk you to the parking lot now. If any of the other guys see you here and someone somehow makes the connection, they'll probably threaten to beat you up." He thought for a moment. "If Puck hadn't just gotten out of juvie, he probably would've beat you up immediately."

"Okay." That wasn't exactly the most reassuring thing Blaine had ever heard. "Let's go, then."

They made it out of the school without running into any of Kurt's fellow New Directions members, or any of his bullies. In fact, everyone still seemed to be in the cafeteria.

When they arrived at Blaine's car, Blaine told Kurt, "Give me your phone. Call me if anyone's giving you trouble, okay? I – I know we don't each other very well, Kurt, but I really want to help you." He smiled slightly. "Be your friend, and all that."

Kurt smiled back uncertainly. "Thanks," he muttered as Blaine handed him his phone back. "Should I – call you, so you have my number as well? Just in case?"

Blaine shrugged. He knew from experience that he could be a very eager texter, so whether or not that was the smartest thing for Kurt to do, he didn't know. "I might just start texting you at the weirdest times, though," he warned, but Kurt just smiled.

"I don't mind." At that moment, the bell rang, and Kurt visibly deflated. "I should go. Drive safely, and… we'll text?"

Blaine nodded in agreement. "We'll text," he confirmed. "Good luck, Kurt!"

Blaine stared after him until he was out of sight before getting into his car. The council wouldn't be happy, but it wasn't Blaine's fault that there hadn't been any rehearsal when he was here. And, he realised, he also had a very good reason to not go back here again – Kurt already knew him, and would probably instantly recognise him. Then again, he mused as he exited the parking lot, him and Kurt knowing each other might just be a reason for Blaine to come to Lima again soon after all.

* * *

**A/N**: Also, this story is now officially 200,000 words. Heh. Anyway, what do you think? Let me know, please review! :)


	53. The first time II

**A/N**: It's funny, because the title of the episode this is set in may not even make sense here, because clearly Kurt and Blaine are just meeting each other here so they don't lose their virginities, and I'm not sure if Rachel would've gone through with it if Kurt didn't, and might also come home any moment :P So... yeah. Anyway, this one was prompted by _flamealchemist15_. I hope you'll like it! I don't really have much else to say, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask them :) (Also, Glee last night. I loved the episode.)

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review once you reach the bottom! :)

* * *

"Hey, Blaine!"

Blaine closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath. His frustration was increasing every time the other boy spoke (be it to him or to someone else), and it was starting to get slightly out of hand. This needed to end before he lost control over what he said. He wanted to maintain his reputation as a nice and polite student, but the way things were going, it was becoming quite difficult.

Finally, he turned around. "Good afternoon, Sebastian," he said with a (rather pained) smile.

"So, did you change your mind yet?" Sebastian was not one to beat around the bush.

"No, Sebastian," Blaine replied exasperatedly – after all, Sebastian asked him this every time they saw each other, and Blaine suspected that the other boy went out of his way to see Blaine whenever he could. "I haven't changed my mind yet, and I doubt I will any time soon."

"That's okay." Sebastian slung his arm around Blaine's shoulder. "I've got the time."

"Look, Sebastian," Blaine said, knowing already that it wouldn't matter what he said. "You seem… nice. You're probably quite funny, and I don't think anyone can deny that you're good-looking." His fellow Warbler smirked at this, but before he could say anything, Blaine ploughed on. "You're also not my type, okay, and I'm really not yours. I want a relationship, you just want – well, you just want to have sex with someone. Or, more likely, a lot of someones. And I'm not planning on being one of those someones."

He turned around and walked away, knowing that Sebastian would follow him anyway – after all, they had Warblers practice now. He meant what he'd said, and while he had to admit that he liked getting some attention from another boy that wasn't negative for a change, he also didn't really know how to handle it. All Sebastian wanted was sex; he didn't do relationships. Blaine had gathered that much from all the conversations they had had so far. Although, they weren't really conversations per se, seeing as they mostly consisted of Sebastian boasting about all his previous conquests. How that was supposed to convince Blaine to give Sebastian a shot was beyond him.

Sebastian must've fallen far behind; Blaine made it to the Warblers meeting room without the other boy intercepting him again. He quickly sat down on a couch next to Nick, and was silently grateful that his friends were also aware of the fact that Blaine didn't really want to sit next to Sebastian. He'd made that mistake once, and had escaped from the room as soon as the meeting was over, more traumatised than ever before.

"Where's Sebastian?" David asked from where he was sitting behind the council table, looking around the room. When nobody seemed to know, he sighed. "He knows that we're rehearsing for – oh. Here he comes."

"You're late," Thad remarked as Sebastian came strolling in leisurely.

Shooting the council a disdainful look, Sebastian walked up to the front of the room instead of sitting down. Most of the Warblers watched this movement with apprehension, and the three council members exchanged looks of exasperation.

"What are you doing, Sebastian?" David asked him. "We don't have time for this. You were already late, and we have to – "

"I got us tickets for _West Side Story_," Sebastian interrupted him. "The opening night, this Saturday. It's about as far from Broadway as it can get – it's at a public school somewhere – but it'll be great for… team bonding, right?"

"You mean, get the team to bond with you," Trent remarked.

Sebastian didn't react to this, but held up the tickets instead before slamming them down on the council table. "Take it or leave it," he said, before strolling back out of the room.

"Did he just – " Jeff started, trailing off.

"Yeah, he did," Nick said.

There was a short silence in the room that was eventually broken when David gingerly picked up the tickets Sebastian had left there. "These seem real enough," he muttered.

"You think we should do this?" Nick asked, sounding doubtful. "Who knows what Sebastian's planning."

"I think that's pretty clear," David replied. "Blaine, you know that when he said 'team bonding' he probably meant getting closer to you, right?"

"I hadn't thought of that," Blaine confessed. "Not that he would've succeeded anyway."

"He must've figured out you love musicals," Jeff said, grinning.

"Anyone can figure that out, Jeff," David replied.

"So I'll be watching the musical the entire time," Blaine pointed out. "Even if it's just a school production, it might be good."

"Where is it anyway?" Nick asked.

Thad leant over David's shoulder to see. "William McKinley High School in Lima," he read. "Hey, isn't that – "

"New Directions," David said. "Yeah, I believe it is. I doubt Sebastian knew that, though."

"At least it gives us a good reason to take these tickets," Jeff reasoned. "We're not going because we're becoming Sebastian's puppets, but because we want to see how our competition is doing."

"I feel like I already know who'll be playing Tony and Maria, though," Nick said. "Remember that short girl who sang at Regionals?"

"Obviously," Blaine replied. "But – "

"And wasn't that tall guy her boyfriend or something?" Nick continued. "They made out at Nationals, on stage!"

"Which I'm still tremendously annoyed at," David admitted. "None of us would've done that if we had won. So," he continued two seconds later, "we should practise our number. Blaine – I know you wanted to sit this one out, but since Sebastian clearly is not interested in singing with us today, you can have his part. Come on, let's do this."

o-o-o-o-o

The night of the play arrived, and the Warblers – who'd all decided to go – were getting ready to leave the parking lot. "Why are we wearing our uniforms, though?" Nick asked, straightening out his blazer as well as possible while sitting down. "They'll instantly recognise us this way."

"I take it the tickets for the show were available to anyone who wanted them," David replied, hesitating for a moment. "We forgot to ask Sebastian how exactly he got them, though."

Jeff shrugged. "If we weren't allowed to come, _he_ was the one who got the tickets. We'll all just blame him."

David started his car, and wondered out loud, "Why did we let him join the Warblers again?"

"It certainly wasn't his lovely personality," Jeff said. "Why's Blaine sitting in the front anyway? He's the shortest of the group and now he's got more room for his legs than the three of us combined."

"Because we didn't know if Sebastian was going to be joining us in the car as well," David responded. "Come to think of it, the reason he didn't might even have to do with the fact that Blaine's in the passenger seat."

"I doubt I would've survived sitting in the backseat with Sebastian for close to two hours," Blaine added. "No offense, but – "

"We know," Nick said. "We know."

o-o-o-o-o

They were the first of the Warblers to arrive at McKinley, so they had to wait for a bit before the other boys also showed up. Sebastian was grinning wickedly again, and as they entered the school, he asked Blaine, "Are you looking forward to the play?"

Surprised that Sebastian actually asked for Blaine's opinion, but instantly reminding himself that it was all just a trick to get him in his bed, Blaine replied, "Yes, actually. I've never seen _West Side Story_ being performed on stage."

"Pity," Sebastian responded. "I'd hoped we could… sneak off to the bathroom while everyone was watching the play. Then again, someone here should be able to tell us where the janitor's closet is during intermission, don't you think?"

"Not interested, Sebastian," Blaine said, clenching his ticket so tightly in his fist that the girl checking their tickets had to pry it out.

"You'll change your mind." Sebastian sounded a little too sure of this.

"No, I won't," Blaine retorted. He tried to walk away from Sebastian, but since his legs were shorter, this wasn't the easiest task. Either way, they quickly caught up with the other Warblers, and when they found their places, Blaine was relieved to see that Sebastian was sitting at the other end of his row, scowling slightly at the other Warblers. Clearly, he hadn't thought this through well enough.

The auditorium was almost entirely full, Blaine noticed. He wondered how many times the musical was going to be performed. Suddenly, Jeff, who was on his right, leaned over and said, "It looks like that tall guy from Regionals is in the audience. Why isn't he in the play?"

Blaine shrugged. "How should I know?"

David, sitting on Blaine's other side, asked, "Why don't you ask him after the show?"

"At Sectionals last year, there was a blond guy singing, right?" Jeff now asked. "Maybe he's Tony?"

"His hair was even blonder than yours," Nick remarked, a far away look on his face; Blaine remembered the two of them being rather in awe of the blond singer at Sectionals. "And we'll see. Maybe they got a great addition to their team this year and the new guy is Tony."

Soon enough, the show started. Blaine sat a little straighter in his seat; it may only be a high school production, but he didn't want to miss a second of this.

And for a high school production, Blaine thought it looked and sounded pretty good. Of course, they seemed to have put the school's Glee club members in the leading roles (as far as Blaine could see, at least; he didn't remember all of them, after all), but there were also a lot of other people on stage, dancing and singing, whom Blaine was sure he'd never seen before. It was pretty nice.

When it was finally time for Tony to appear on stage, Jeff was almost bouncing in his seat from excitement. "Is that him?" he muttered when someone came into view, and Blaine leaned a little closer to see. It looked like the boy playing Tony was quite a bit paler than the actor in the movie version Blaine had seen. Not that that was a bad thing, of course.

Then he started to speak, and Blaine's eyebrows rose to unimaginable heights. Not a typical Tony at all, it seemed.

Intermission came, and now Blaine was practically bouncing in his seat. "This is amazing!" he gushed; he was almost inclined to check the school website when they got back to Dalton to see if there were still tickets available for other nights.

"They are pretty good," David agreed.

"I knew that girl would be playing Maria," Nick reminded them. "She was good, though."

Thad and Trent, who were sitting in front of them, turned around in their seats. "I think the Tony was a bigger surprise," Trent remarked.

Blaine thought back to the scenes they'd already seen, and he had to admit that he definitely hadn't expected the directors – especially here, in a public school in Ohio – to cast a countertenor as the male lead. The boy clearly deserved it, since he was a great actor and an amazing singer; he just didn't seem like the kind of guy who generally got the leads in plays and musicals.

"It was daring, yes, but it has worked well so far," David said. "What do you think, Blaine?"

Unsure of how much he'd missed of the discussion, Blaine nodded happily. "I think he's great." Because he didn't want to know how his friends would react if he told them his true, uncensored opinion on this Tony. He definitely hoped there was some time to talk to the actors afterwards. Otherwise he had another good reason to come back.

"Are you talking about Tony?" Sebastian had moved down a couple of seats and was now next to David. He shook his head. "Anyone could've played that role better than that guy. If he's even really a guy. I wonder if he still – "

"Okay, Sebastian, we get it," Nick said.

"Anyway, what I came here for," Sebastian went on, "Blaine, have you reconsidered my offer yet?"

Blaine stared at him for a few seconds before remembering their earlier conversation. "No, Sebastian, I haven't," he replied stiffly. "And I won't. I'm good."

Sebastian shrugged. "You have no idea what you're missing out on." He looked around the auditorium, and Blaine hoped that he wasn't actually thinking of finding anyone to get into the janitor's closet with.

"I doubt he wants to find out," Trent told Sebastian.

"Oh, he will," Sebastian said, smirking again. "He will."

"So, what were we talking about again?" Jeff asked the second Sebastian walked off.

o-o-o-o-o

When the play was over, Blaine hung back a little. He knew that some of the Warblers wanted to go back to Dalton already, but he hoped that at least a few people would want to stick around as well, so at least he'd have a ride back. Unless, of course, the only person willing to wait for him was Sebastian – in that case, Blaine would just have to come back another night and talk to the performers then.

"Oh, we'll wait," David assured him when he asked. "I think Nick and Jeff want to talk to some of the girls in the play anyway."

So they decided to wait. A lot of people in the audience had already left, and Blaine was certain that part of the cast had gone home as well.

Suddenly, Blaine's arm was grabbed by Nick and he found himself being dragged over to the tall boy they'd all assumed would be playing Tony.

"Hey!" Jeff greeted him happily.

The boy looked momentarily confused, before asking, "You're the… Warblers, right? You're not spying, are you?"

"We don't even know our competition yet," David reminded him. "And besides, tickets for this were available for everyone, right?"

"Why weren't you in the musical?" Nick asked. "Wouldn't you be the… much more obvious choice for Tony?"

"Oh, he would." Blaine looked up. It was the boy who played Tony. "He just didn't try out."

"I was kinda busy, you know," the taller boy said. "With football, and work. But, hey, Kurt, great job, dude!" He pulled the slightly shorter boy in for a hug. "You were great up there. Though it was a little weird to see your stepbrother make out with your girlfriend on stage."

"Yeah, for a gay dude you make out with girls an awful lot," a guy with a mohawk – who'd played Bernardo in the play, if Blaine wasn't mistaken – said as he came up to the group.

Kurt crossed his arms and muttered, "Two girls, Puck. Just two."

"So two too many," Puck responded. "Whoa. What are all these Garglers doing here?"

"We're the _Warblers_," David corrected him. "And we came to see the show. Some of us are huge fans of _West Side Story_ so we decided to check out this production."

"I've seen better." Blaine really wondered how Sebastian pulled that off; he always seemed to come out of nowhere. "I mean, obviously, your Maria was spot on, but anyone could've played Tony better than you did." He directed the final part of his comment to Kurt, who simply raised an eyebrow at him. "They would've been better off casting that Irish guy with the crazy accent as Tony, _that's_ how unfit you are for this role. You have a hard luck case of the gay face and your portrayal of Tony is completely unbelievable."

"Well – " the other boy started, but before they knew it, Puck had grabbed the front of Sebastian's uniform and seemed about to swing a fist into Sebastian's face. "Puck, stop it! We don't have to actually re-enact _West Side Story_!"

With combined forces, the rest of the group eventually managed to pry Puck away from Sebastian. "Just for the record," Nick told Kurt, "I think you did a great job as Tony."

Blaine nodded in agreement, smiling happily, and once again, Sebastian slung his arm around his shoulders, glaring at the three McKinley students.

"Sebastian, just go," David said tiredly. "No one wants you here. Sorry about him," he then said, when Sebastian moved away. "He's…"

"It's fine," Kurt replied. "It's not like he's the only one who thinks I'm not fit to play the male lead in the play. I was the only one who auditioned for the part, though, so they just… had to take me."

"You were amazing," Blaine blurted out. "No, really. You were," he added when the other boy looked doubtful. "I haven't really seen any other productions except for the movie, but this must be one of the most unique performances of _West Side Story_ in history. Not many productions can say that they cast a countertenor as Tony, right?"

"I completely agree," a girl's voice came, and the girl playing Maria came to a halt in between the tall boy and Kurt. "Kurt is an excellent Tony, and our voices sound fantastic together."

"Rachel, are you okay?" Kurt asked. "You're not normally so… eager to give out compliments to others."

"Yes, well, it's important to – are those for me?" She shifted her attention from Kurt to the tall boy, who was, Blaine suddenly noticed, clutching a bouquet in one hand.

"Uh – yes?" the boy replied. "Of course. You're my – my girlfriend, so – "

Before he could finish his sentence, Rachel had already latched onto him. Kurt rolled his eyes. "Anyway, did you like the rest of the show as well?"

A few minutes later – Rachel and her boyfriend were still making out – Puck, who'd walked off at some point, returned. "Artie's having an after party at Breadstix," he said. "You guys wanna go?"

Kurt shrugged. "Yeah, sure. I'll be right out."

As he turned back to the Warblers slightly apologetically, Nick said, "Oh, it's fine. We should get going anyway."

o-o-o-o-o

Once they arrived at Dalton, Blaine all but flew up to his dorm, started his laptop, and searched for the site of McKinley High.

There were still tickets available for the next show. Blaine grinned happily, and set off to buy one.

That Tuesday, Blaine was, once again, sitting in the auditorium at McKinley. There were less people present than there had been for opening night, but at least half the seats were occupied. Once more, Blaine was transfixed by the play, but mostly by Kurt and his acting. This time, he even allowed himself to cry along with Maria when Tony died.

Lingering around after the play, he suddenly bumped into Kurt. "Hey," he greeted him, suddenly a bit nervous. He wasn't being creepy, right? He'd simply enjoyed the play, and had decided to come see it again.

"Hey." Kurt looked surprised to see him. "Blaine, right? What are you doing here… again?"

Blaine shrugged, trying to appear casual. "I really loved your performance on Saturday," he replied. "So I decided to come see it again."

"Okay." Kurt still seemed amazed. "So… did it live up to your expectations? Were we better tonight?"

"You definitely lived up to my expectations," Blaine told him honestly. "And… yes, I think so. Just… minor differences, though, and you were great on Saturday as well, but… yeah, you definitely improved."

At that moment, Kurt's phone went off. Reading the text, Kurt smiled apologetically. "I'm really sorry, Blaine, but I have to go. I'm already running late and – "

"No, it's okay," Blaine said, smiling. "I'll… uh – I'll see you around."

Obviously, Kurt didn't think anything was wrong with that sentence at that moment, so he just nodded and ran off, waving at Blaine as he turned around the corner. Blaine sighed; he was already in too deep, and he didn't even know this boy. But he knew what he had to do.

o-o-o-o-o

That was the beginning of Blaine trekking to Lima each night _West Side Story_ was being performed in the McKinley High auditorium – named, he noticed during his fourth visit, the April Rhodes Civic Pavilion. His friends didn't know where he went – well, he hadn't told them, and frankly, they hadn't asked either – and his homework might be suffering a little bit as well, but it was all worth it.

He didn't get to talk to Kurt every night, though – Blaine had seen him with what must be his parents twice, and one time, Blaine must've missed him somehow – but seeing him on that stage was incredible enough in itself. He'd been cornered by Rachel once, but rather than asking what his intentions were, she merely congratulated him on appreciating the genius and the high standing of the play. After that, she started talking about what roles she planned on playing once she made it to Broadway.

Tonight, however, was the night of the last performance, and Blaine was somewhat sad to see the production come to an end. And to think, he wasn't even in it.

He glanced at the flowers lying in the seat next to his. Was it weird to give someone you didn't really know flowers, even if it was after a fantastic series of shows and before you were planning on asking them out?

Well, he was about to find out whether or not _Kurt_ thought that was weird.

After the show ended (it never failed to move him, not even after so many times), Blaine got up and waited outside the auditorium. He hoped that this wasn't the night that Kurt either stuck around for two hours or somehow left the school some other way.

"Hey, Blaine," Rachel greeted him as she approached him. Almost the entire cast had somehow noticed or heard that Blaine was always there, and though most of them eyed him oddly when they realised this, Rachel seemed to love it. "Are those for me?" She gestured towards the bouquet. Before Blaine could respond, she added, "Just kidding. I know they're not. He should be out soon. I was already telling Kurt before we went on that I think it's very cute that he gained himself such a big admirer. Future Broadway stars like us need admirers, after all. It's sweet that you came to see all our performances. I don't think anyone else has done that. Not even Finn."

Blaine just smiled in response. "Do you think he'll like them?" he asked in the end, tightening his grip on the bouquet.

Rachel smiled back. "I'm sure he'll love them," she replied. "I don't think anyone's ever given him flowers before, so there's that. The flowers are lovely. And… don't tell anyone I said this, because you're technically the competition, but you seem like a good guy, Blaine. Just don't mess with him, okay, or you'll have our entire Glee club out for your blood."

Blaine nodded quickly. "Got it. And thanks, Rachel."

She smiled sweetly at him. "No need to thank me. Oh – hey, Kurt. Bye, Blaine."

She flounced off, and when Kurt finally turned towards Blaine, he mostly looked confused. "Did she say anything?" he asked. "She didn't threaten you, did she?"

"No, she didn't," Blaine replied. Not really. He wasn't planning on messing with Kurt, after all, so that meant no threats, right? "Um – these are for you." He held out the flowers, and Kurt took them carefully. "You were amazing tonight. Not just tonight, though. You were… phenomenal, the entire time."

"Thank you," Kurt whispered. In a louder voice, he added, "These are gorgeous, Blaine. Really. I still can't believe you actually came to see every single performance."

"I wouldn't have missed it for anything," Blaine replied.

Kurt smiled at that. "I feel like I should ask you out now."

"I – what?" Blaine stared at him for a couple of seconds. "No – I mean, you don't _have_ to ask me out. I was just going to – "

"You came to see the show every night, you got me flowers, it's been really great talking to you so far, even though we've probably only talked for less than half an hour in all," Kurt summed up. "So I'd like to talk to you some more. If that's okay with you. I know I don't have to ask you out, but I kind of really want to."

"Yeah," Blaine replied, staring wide-eyed at the other boy. "Yeah, that's – that's fine." He shook his head. "I mean, I had this whole speech planned out in my head after which I was going to ask you out, but… yeah, this suits me just fine."

"Tell you what," Kurt said as he pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to Blaine – his phone number, from the looks of it. "You call me tomorrow, we find a time and a day, and if you still feel like it by the end of the date, you can use that speech to ask for a second date, or something."

_Or something_. Did that mean that if the date went well, he could use the speech to ask Kurt to be his boyfriend? No – he shouldn't get too far ahead of himself. "You've got yourself a deal," he replied. "So I'll… give you a call. Are you sure this is the right number?"

"Of course I'm sure," Kurt replied. "And if it's not, you have my permission to Facebook stalk me or my friends in order to get the right number."

Blaine grinned. "I can do that. So I'll… see you soon, then?"

"Very soon," Kurt promised.

"The sooner the better?" Blaine ventured, and Kurt smiled fondly.

"Yes. I'll see you then."

* * *

**A/N**: So, what do you think? Let me know, please review! :D


	54. Dream on

**A/N**: I'd say this chapter is in honour of the fact that Jesse is back on Glee, and maybe it is, in a way, but I had it planned and written some time ago already :) Anyway, in this chapter, Jesse and Blaine are cousins - to which I should probably add that this one-shot has nothing to do with any of the other Jesse-and-Blaine-are-cousins stories I've written. It's not part of that 'verse, so to say. This was prompted by an anon going by _Erin_, and by _onetwoone_, and hopefully, you'll like how this turned out. There's not really a reason why this is set (for the biggest part) in the 'Dream On' episode other than that Jesse's presence during this episode and the ones around it seemed almost random. The epilogue, as you might guess once you get there, is set in the season 1 finale.

Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter, and please review! :)

* * *

"You're kidding me, right?" Kurt looked from Rachel to Jesse and back. There was no way these two were serious.

"You have to come, Kurt!" Rachel exclaimed. "It'll be so much fun! Think about it, four Broadway fanatics in one room, how great would that be?"

"It wouldn't be something you see every day here in Ohio," Jesse added, looking at Rachel fondly. "So what do you say?"

"I really don't see why _I_ have to do this, apart from the whole Broadway fanatics part." He gestured towards Rachel.

"Well, you're the only one suited for the job, obviously," Jesse said, smiling widely. Even after all those weeks, Kurt still didn't trust this guy or his smile. "Plus, I promised my aunt and uncle to watch my cousin for the weekend, so the only way I can go out without being ratted out to them and, consequently, my parents – not that they'd care – is to make this a double date."

"I'm gay," Kurt reminded him. "Just because the other Glee guys don't like Broadway, it doesn't mean – "

Jesse actually laughed at him. "Seriously, Kurt? My cousin is a _guy_. You know, male? He's your age, and also incredibly gay, if you hadn't gotten the memo when we mentioned Broadway."

"I still don't trust you," Kurt told Jesse. "Why would I go on a date with your cousin whom I don't even know?"

"Haven't you ever heard of blind dates?" Jesse retorted. "People go on dates all the time with people they don't know."

"And now it'll be even less awkward, because we'll be there with you!" Rachel, who probably thought that she'd been ignored for long enough, added, grinning. "Besides, from what Jesse's told me, his cousin is quite the singer himself!"

Jesse nodded. "He's in his school's Glee club, too. They're an all male a cappella group called the Warblers."

"Okay, but back to the blind date thing," Kurt said, trying not to let their words get to him. "People usually don't go on blind dates set up by people they don't trust."

Rachel pouted. "At least consider it, Kurt. It would mean a lot to us. And who knows, you might just have a great time."

"Plus," Jesse added, a slightly malicious glint in his eye, "it is about time you got over Finn Hudson anyway, don't you think?"

o-o-o-o-o

"Blaine." Blaine looked up from his homework and almost fell off of his chair.

"Jesse?" he asked, confused. "What are you doing here, at Dalton?"

"We need to talk," his cousin told him, sitting down opposite him and closing Blaine's book, not listening to the other boy's protests.

"What about?" Blaine asked. "Should I stay at Dalton for the weekend?"

Jesse eyed him thoughtfully. "You mean that was an option? Should've thought of that before. But no, you shouldn't stay here. You're going on a double date with me, Rachel, and one of her friends. Don't worry," he continued, rolling his eyes when he saw that Blaine was about to protest, "it's a guy, and he's gay."

"I don't need you setting me up, Jesse," Blaine muttered.

"Well, it's not like you're actually going on dates if I don't, are you?" Jesse asked rhetorically. "Besides, it's a one time thing. If you don't enjoy yourself, well, that's fine. And I promised your parents I'd watch you."

Blaine pulled a face. "I don't need a babysitter."

"Trust me, I know," Jesse replied. "However, they asked me to do this and I said yes, so you're practically obliged to come home this weekend and do me this favour. Besides, Rachel's already obsessed with going on a double date. None of my friends really want to hang out with her and none of her friends are very suitable. Besides, they don't really want to hang out with me. And Rachel has two gay dads, so the whole 'going on a double date with two adorable gays' thing might make them go easier on me."

"You did not just call me an adorable gay," Blaine deadpanned, and Jesse groaned.

"That was the only thing you got from that?"

Blaine sighed. "I feel like I'm going to regret this, but fine. I'll think about it. Do I at least get a name of the guy I'm going to be forced to spend the evening with because I know you, Jesse. You can call it a double date all you want, but you're only going to pay attention to your girlfriend."

Jesse shrugged. "His name's Kurt Hummel. Look him up on Facebook, or something."

o-o-o-o-o

He must be completely crazy. Not only was Kurt going out on a blind date, said blind date was also the cousin of one of the people Kurt trusted least in the world – Jesse St James. Not to mention, Jesse himself would also be present, as would Rachel Berry. And sure, Rachel and Kurt had reached somewhat of a truce recently (one that mostly consisted of not speaking to each other and just staying out of each other's hair), but they still didn't really get along.

Also, Kurt had never actually been on a blind date before. What was one supposed to say and do? Yes, the fact that Jesse and Rachel were also there might make the tension less obvious, but Kurt doubted that those two would pay them much attention after the first few minutes. What if Jesse had lied, and his cousin was a) not a guy after all, or b) not his age? What if this person was just as despicable as Jesse? What if he looked and smelt just as homeless as that kid in Kurt's English class? Or, perhaps worse, what if he was incredibly hot and Kurt wouldn't know how to behave around him?

Kurt took a deep breath. He could survive this. He _would_ survive this. First, he needed to find an outfit. He'd found one before, but he suddenly didn't like that one at all anymore when he'd scrutinised it again earlier. Then, he'd have to spray his hair into subjection and perfection.

When he was done, he checked the clock. He still had some time to get to the date, he realised. Rachel and Jesse had suggested they pick him up at his house, but Kurt had declined. If the date turned out to be a disaster, he didn't want to rely on them to get him back home.

He had told his father – who was currently at Carole's – that he'd be hanging out with some friends tonight. Luckily, his father hadn't asked any questions.

Only when Kurt was in his car, driving towards the (vegan) restaurant Rachel had picked out, he realised that he really should've checked Facebook some time this past week. After all, how many cousins his age could Jesse have? He certainly would've been at least a little more prepared, then.

There was no turning back now, though. As much as he was dreading this, it was happening.

o-o-o-o-o

Blaine was trying to ignore Jesse and Rachel as best as he could. They were acting like any couple in love would, but Blaine didn't feel extremely comfortable standing next to them. Even if he had a boyfriend, he wouldn't be able to act like these two; not in public, at least.

Still, he was pretty excited for tonight, and he was glad he'd decided to go. He just wasn't sure if he should tell Kurt Hummel that Blaine had already looked him up on Facebook and then had also tried to find some friends of his in order to find more pictures of him.

Blaine blushed at the memory. It was somewhat hard to believe that he was technically going on a date with that boy tonight. He hoped that he would able to speak coherently with him around; if he was even half as beautiful as he appeared in those photos, that might become a problem.

A few minutes later, Rachel pulled away from Jesse slightly to wave at someone, and Blaine followed her line of sight.

Oh. There he was.

The boy approaching them was, as far as Blaine could see, even more beautiful than in the pictures. He also seemed a little uncomfortable; he was walking towards them with a slightly pained expression on his face, and Blaine wondered if he was really a good friend of Rachel's, or if the other two had blackmailed him into coming, or something.

"Kurt!" Rachel exclaimed when the boy reached them. She grinned widely. "I'm so glad you could come! Oh – here. This is Blaine, Jesse's cousin. Blaine, this is Kurt."

Blaine smiled widely at the other boy as he held out his hand. "Hi," he greeted him. "It's really great to meet you."

Kurt stared at him for a moment, his eyes roaming Blaine's face. "Hi," he echoed in the end. "Likewise." Blaine beamed at him, and Kurt commented, "I can see the resemblance. It's in the hair. But…"

"Yeah," Jesse interjected. "That's about it, looks wise."

"Let's go inside!" Rachel was practically jumping up and down as she dragged Jesse over to the entrance of the restaurant, and Blaine turned to Kurt.

"Are you ready to go in as well?" It was only now that Blaine realised that, as Jesse had already pointed out, Blaine had no dating experience at all. It was kind of pathetic. He sincerely hoped he wasn't doing anything wrong.

Kurt blinked at him. "Yeah, of course." He gave Blaine a hesitant smile. "And before you ask, yes, Rachel's usually like this."

Blaine grinned. "So I've heard."

When they found their table, Rachel and Jesse were already occupying one side of the booth. Rachel was looking at the two of them almost proudly as they sat down, and Jesse smirked at Blaine.

"Have you ever been to a vegan restaurant before, Blaine?" Rachel asked.

Blaine shook his head. "No, I can't say I have."

"Well," Rachel told him, "I'm sure you'll love it."

She then proceeded to talk about the latest assignment their Glee club director had given them, and while Jesse appeared to be listening intently, Blaine couldn't help but feel his attention waver. He was trying to be polite, but this girl was simply too much. Especially right now. Besides, he wasn't even really here for her, right?

Blaine glanced sideways, only to notice that Kurt didn't seem to be listening to Rachel either. Instead, he was studying the menu with a slight frown on his face. Blaine quickly looked back at Rachel, but she'd turned towards Jesse now, so Blaine figured it wouldn't be considered too rude if he talked to Kurt for a bit.

"Is there anything good on there?" he asked in a low voice, and Kurt immediately looked up from the menu. He seemed surprised that Blaine was talking to him, so for good measure, Blaine smiled widely at him.

Ducking his head, Kurt replied, "I have no idea. This is my first time eating vegan as well."

Since there were only two menus at the table – the waitress had told them upon coming in that it was an exceptionally busy night – and Jesse was clearly hogging the other one with his elbow, Blaine carefully scooted a little closer towards Kurt. The other boy looked shocked by this action, but (thankfully) didn't move away. Instead, he moved the menu a bit so that Blaine could study it as well.

Like Kurt, Blaine had no idea what most of the food was. It sounded good, though. "Have you found something yet?" Kurt then asked him.

"I can't choose between these two," Blaine replied, pointing at what he thought would be the best options.

Kurt smiled. "Seriously? Me too!"

"So that means there's only one option left, right?" Blaine said, grinning. "We other both and then split."

Kurt stared at him for a second before blushing. Blaine could feel himself heating up a bit as well. "That's a very date-like thing to do," Kurt commented.

Blaine laughed nervously. "Yeah," he said. "You don't mind, right?" Kurt hastily shook his head. "Good. So… tell me more about yourself? You go to Rachel's school as well, right?"

Kurt nodded. "McKinley, yes." He pulled a face. "It's… interesting there. I'm a sophomore, in Glee club, and currently on the cheerleading squad as well. I – "

"You're a cheerleader?" Blaine interrupted him. "Sorry, I just – wow." He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "I didn't see that coming. Not that I think you'd make a bad cheerleader, or something. I – wow. I'm speechless."

Kurt was smiling genuinely now. "Thanks, I guess. I haven't been on the team for too long, though. A little over a month, now. And – " He cast Jesse and Rachel a quick glance. "In all honesty, a friend and I only joined in the first place so that we could get some solos, because it's not like we get any in Glee club with these two present. The cheerleading coach recruited us both as soloists, but my friend quit a week ago. I kind of like it, though. It keeps me in shape. And besides…" He seemed to hesitate for a moment. "It keeps the bullies at bay." He almost whispered this last part. "Sorry. Bad topic for a first date, or whatever this is."

Blaine smiled. "First date is fine with me. And that's alright. I've been bullied myself. But if you don't want to talk about that now, we can always save that for another date." Kurt stared at him with wide eyes. "Sorry. I tend to – was that too straightforward?"

"That was very straightforward," Kurt replied. "I don't… really mind, though. I think I'd like that."

"Awesome." Blaine grinned. "Anyway, it's great that you're a cheerleader. Is your team any good?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow at him. "'Any good'? Don't let our coach hear that. They've won the cheerleading Nationals for several years in a row now."

"Okay, wow." Blaine was very impressed. "And your Glee club?"

"Has only existed since this school year," Kurt said. "Regionals is next month. That should be interesting, I think." A few seconds later, he asked, "So what about you? Jesse said you're in a show choir as well?"

Blaine nodded eagerly. "Yes, we're called the Warblers. It's all really fun, though it's pretty challenging as well at times. We're an a cappella group, so we sing our own harmonies." He hesitated for a moment before adding, "We're kind of rock stars at Dalton."

"Rock stars?" Kurt let out a startled laugh. "Seriously?"

"I'm not kidding," Blaine promised. "Yes, the whole school loves us. It's amazing."

Now Kurt looked suitably impressed. "And Dalton is… where, exactly?"

"In Westerville," Blaine answered. "I know," he added when he saw Kurt's face. "It's not that close, so I normally board during the week. It's… a private school. We only moved to Lima last summer anyway; before that, we used to live a lot closer to Westerville."

At that moment, an almost frazzled looking waitress stopped by to ask if they were ready to order their food. Since Rachel and Jesse hadn't so much as looked at their menus, they were not, so the woman promised to come back later.

Just like Blaine had expected, Jesse and Rachel seemed almost dead-set on ignoring him and Kurt. Not that he minded very much, because Kurt was good company. They shared a lot of favourite movies, musicals, books, and other interests, and not even the knowing look Jesse shot them when they (somewhat clumsily) switched plates halfway through dinner could ruin Blaine's night.

After having to witness a long and extremely drawn-out debate between Rachel and Jesse about whether or not they should get dessert (both Kurt and Blaine didn't really mind either way), they eventually ended up outside the restaurant. Just when Blaine was about to ask for Kurt's number, Jesse and Rachel turned out to have some more tricks up their sleeves.

"We're actually thinking of catching a movie," Jesse announced. "So…"

"Kurt, you don't mind driving Blaine home, right?" Rachel added.

Kurt shot her an unimpressed look. "Of course not," he answered in the end. Turning towards Blaine, he smiled and said, "Let's go then."

They said goodbye to Jesse and Rachel and walked towards Kurt's car in silence. When they arrived there, Blaine smiled appreciatively. "That really is a cool car," he commented, and Kurt smiled back.

"My dad got it for me for my sixteenth birthday," he replied. "He took it away for a while at the start of the school year, but I eventually managed to get it back." His face clouded for a moment. "Let's not talk about that now."

Blaine nodded. "Sure."

They got in the car, and when Kurt told Blaine to find a radio station he liked, Blaine didn't need to be told twice. He instantly started searching for one, and he sat back, satisfied, when he'd found his favourite Top 40 station.

During the ride, he repeatedly tried to coax Kurt into singing with him, and when he succeeded eventually, he couldn't stop grinning. Just like he'd expected, Kurt sounded amazing, and their voices together sounded even more amazing.

"I really had a fun night," Kurt told him when they reached Blaine's house, smiling softly.

"Yeah, me too." What should he do now? Blaine had no clue. "Hey, do you maybe want to come in for a bit? I mean – that came out wrong, didn't it? Just to watch a movie, or something? Or perhaps we could just talk some more."

Kurt seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding. "Okay. I think we could do that."

As Blaine led the way to the front door, he didn't think he'd ever been happier about his parents always being gone or his decision to come home for a weekend.

o-o-o-o-o

After that night – as they'd agreed, they'd simply talked for another two hours; then, Kurt had to leave in order to be home before his curfew – multiple other dates followed. It was entirely different without Rachel and Jesse present, but only in a good way, of course.

Nothing much had happened, though Blaine knew his feelings grew with every date they went on. He wasn't very good at reading people, especially in situations like this, but he liked to think that Kurt felt the same way.

That was, until he stopped replying to Blaine's messages about two weeks in. At first, Blaine figured that his phone's battery must be dead, but after two days, that didn't seem like a valid excuse anymore. Kurt didn't pick up his phone anymore either, and Blaine didn't have his home address. To top it all off, Kurt's Facebook profile appeared to be non-existing all of a sudden.

For days, Blaine worried about what this could mean, and when the weekend came, he fully intended on bugging Jesse as long as it took him to find out what was going on. When he arrived home, however, his parents informed him that Jesse had moved back to his parents. Something had happened at McKinley, Jesse had broken up with Rachel, and consequently transferred back to Carmel.

Blaine frowned as he heard this. When on their date, Jesse had seemed to adore Rachel, but clearly, not everything was as it seemed.

While channel-surfing, Blaine stopped at a channel that showed what looked like a cheerleading competition, and he sighed. Kurt had been talking to him about it all the time, and Blaine had considered asking for a ticket to attend. Now, however, he had to content himself with watching it on television.

Speaking of competitions – next weekend was the show choir Regionals competition. Since driving to McKinley was out of question (Blaine would be missing class himself, and neither his teachers nor his parents would be happy with him for that), Blaine would have to figure out where next week's competition was held and go there. If Kurt wasn't going to answer any of his calls or messages this week, he would have to confront him there.

o-o-o-o-o

Blaine scanned the parking lot of the venue the competition was held at, but there was no sign of Kurt or Rachel – or Jesse, even. As he slowly walked inside, he kept looking around.

"Blaine! What are you doing here?" Jesse came strolling towards him, confident grin in place. "Did you come to cheer us on?"

"Actually, no," Blaine replied. He couldn't help but feel like Jesse somehow had something to do with the fact that Kurt hadn't contacted him in almost two weeks. "I came here to see Kurt, who mysteriously stopped messaging me about a week and a half ago. Do you know anything about that?"

Jesse looked somewhat shocked. "I – no," he responded, before sliding back into his confident persona. "Maybe he decided that it wouldn't work out." He shrugged.

"Yes, but before that, I was fairly sure that we both thought it would work out," Blaine said. "And besides that, why did you break up with Rachel – "

"Jesse." It was one of the Vocal Adrenaline girls. She looked at Blaine as if he was the bane of her existence. "We're going to the greenroom."

Jesse smiled at Blaine, looking only slightly apologetic. "I'll see you around, Blaine," he said before leaving.

Blaine was about to find a seat when something caught his eye. A large group of students came in, bickering amongst themselves. From a distance, Blaine watched them. Rachel was there, talking to a tall boy who watched her with the same expression Blaine had seen Jesse look at the girl with, so that meant that Kurt must be there as well.

Oh. When Blaine found Kurt, the other boy was looking back at him already. Taking a deep breath, Blaine started walking towards the group. When he stopped in front of Kurt, the entire group had fallen silent.

"Kurt," he started, trying to keep his voice even, "can we talk for a moment?"

"What do you want, Blaine?" That was Rachel, suddenly standing next to Kurt with her hands on her hips. "Don't you think you've done enough already?"

"I haven't – " Blaine shook his head, speechless for a moment. "Rachel, I have no idea what Jesse did to you but I swear, I had no idea, and I had nothing to do with it. I spend all my time at Dalton during the week and I didn't even realise he moved back to his parents' until last weekend."

"I guess we could… talk for a minute," Kurt said quietly. "I'll find you guys when we're done, okay?"

Blaine purposefully didn't look any of the other New Directions members in the eye before turning around, but he was feeling a lot better already. When they found a somewhat secluded place, Blaine said, "You stopped… calling, and texting. And – "

"I know," Kurt responded, shifting on his feet. "I thought you – did you really have no idea what Jesse was planning?"

Blaine shook his head. "I still don't know what he's done, to be honest."

"Okay." Kurt nodded. "I'll just… trust you in this, for now, because I feel like you're trustworthy. Even though you're Jesse's cousin."

"What did he do?" Blaine asked, and Kurt briefly explained everything that had gone down between Vocal Adrenaline and New Directions this past week. By the end of the story, Blaine's eyes were wide as saucers.

"I figured that… it must've been his plan all along," Kurt added. "And that you knew about it, and that for some reason, you thought it'd be funny to string me along as well." His lips curled up in a small smile. "If there's one trait you and Jesse obviously don't share, though, it's that you suck at not speaking the truth, Blaine Anderson."

Well, that much was true. "So does that mean we can go out again some time?" Blaine asked. A little more cautiously, he added, "I've really missed you."

Kurt smiled. "I've missed you too, so… that sounds great. Can I text or call you later? You have my permission to come to my house if I don't do so."

Blaine laughed. "That would be great if I knew where you lived."

"Right." Kurt pressed his lips together. "Do you happen to have a pen?" Blaine did, and Kurt quickly wrote down his address on Blaine's left hand. "I'll talk to you later, okay?" he then asked, squeezing Blaine's hand in his. "I think I should get back to my team. And I'm really sorry for distancing myself from you."

Blaine nodded. "Yeah, of course. And that's… okay. I mean, it really sucked, but I understand why you did it. If it makes you feel better, we can always discuss it later?" As Kurt smiled at that, Blaine squeezed _his_ hands now. "Break a leg up there. I'll be rooting for you."

"Thanks." With that, and another smile, Kurt was gone. Blaine managed to find a seat, and sat back. He couldn't wait to see Kurt on stage.

* * *

**A/N**: So, what do you think? :) Let me know, please leave a review!


	55. Big brother

**A/N**: This is one of those not-prompted chapters that pop up from time to time. I just... felt like writing it after BB aired :P So... here you go :) I'm not sure how big the chances of Cooper going to McKinley to give a masterclass would actually be if Blaine didn't go there, but let's just say Sue was very convincing. As for the Warblers - of course Blaine's still there, but Sebastian as well... so they sort of split the leads, at least for Regionals.

Hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom! :)

* * *

Blaine had known trouble would be coming when his parents told him Cooper was back in town for a few days. He'd thought, however, that he might be able to escape his brother's presence for the biggest part by telling his parents that he was being flooded with homework and needed to stay at Dalton for the weekend. It seemed to work; his parents didn't pressure him into coming home anyway, and Cooper gave up trying to call him after half a dozen times.

Everything seemed fine, at least until Blaine entered the Warblers' meeting room on Saturday evening. There would be a somewhat informal meeting for the guys who'd also stayed at school for the weekend, in order to decide which songs they'd sing at their next performance at a nursing home. When he came in, he was greeted by a sight he'd hoped to avoid at all costs; his brother was there, already charming Blaine's friends – most of whom had been more like brothers to Blaine than Cooper – and relishing in the fact that they recognised him from those stupid ads.

He crossed his arms and glared at the back of Cooper's head for a moment; then, Trent suddenly noticed him. That in itself surprised Blaine; not many people still noticed him when his brother was around.

"Blaine!" Trent exclaimed. "Hey! Your brother's here."

"Yes, I noticed," Blaine muttered, finally stepping into the room fully. "What are you doing here, Cooper?"

Cooper finally turned to face him, and he grinned. "Blaine! So good to see you, little brother!"

"Don't – " Blaine started, but Cooper was already striding towards him with his arms wide. Sighing, Blaine embraced his brother.

"You weren't going to come home, so I figured I'd better visit you here," Cooper said. "Then I came here and these boys were kind enough to invite me to sit in on your rehearsal and maybe hand out some advice."

Blaine would kill his friends for that later. "Awesome," he said, trying to smile as sincerely as possible, but Cooper had already been whisked away by Sebastian, who was just coming in.

"You're Cooper Anderson, aren't you?" Sebastian asked, almost as if he couldn't believe his luck. Blaine figured he should be surprised that Sebastian knew Cooper, let alone seemed to like him as much as the other guys, but then again, they were both pretty obnoxious. Besides, Blaine knew better than anyone that Sebastian appreciated a good show.

The two were still talking, and for a moment, Blaine debated just sneaking out of the room. That wouldn't help, though, he knew that much. One of the Warblers – his traitorous friends – would probably give Cooper his dorm number.

"No way." Sebastian was now looking from Cooper to Blaine. "Blaine, why didn't you ever tell me that Cooper Anderson is your _brother_?"

"You never asked," Blaine replied curtly, sitting down on a couch now. Of course he hadn't. Anderson was a fairly common last name, so most people assumed it was just a coincidence.

Sebastian hummed under his breath. "The good looks obviously run in the family."

Deciding that it would be for the best if he didn't react to that, Blaine just looked towards the council table instead, silently asking if the meeting shouldn't be starting now. He'd already had to deal with Sebastian and his unwelcome advances for months earlier this school year; he'd rather not the other boy started again.

Once the meeting did start (fifteen minutes late), Cooper let his presence be known the entire time, and at some point, some boys even started taking notes when he talked about acting and stage presence and whatnot. And then, when the council finally decided to take suggestions for their next set, Cooper remarked, "I happen to know that Blaine can do a mean Duran Duran performance. Not as good as me, obviously, but – "

"Duran Duran," Nick repeated, scribbling something down furiously. "Noted."

"Why didn't you ever tell us about that, Blaine?" Thad asked, giving Blaine a reproachful look.

"I… didn't think that was what you guys were looking for," Blaine said slowly.

Fortunately, no one asked for a demonstration, and Cooper didn't push the matter either. When the meeting was over, Blaine got up to leave. He glanced in Cooper's direction for a moment, trying to work out whether or not he should hang out with his brother for a bit longer, but Cooper was talking to David already. Shaking his head dejectedly – this wasn't the first time something like this happened, nor would it be the last – Blaine walked out of the room. Now was as good a time as ever to get some sort of head start with his homework.

More than an hour later, there was a knock on his door. Before Blaine even had the chance to tell whoever it was (though he did have a hunch) to come in, the door flew open already and, just as expected, it was Cooper.

"Hey, squirt," he said. "You left pretty quickly."

"Don't call me that," Blaine said, rolling his eyes. "And yes, that's very astute of you."

Ignoring his words, Cooper told him, "We should spend some time together. It's why I'm back in Ohio, after all. And I'm leaving again on Tuesday. So, lunch on Monday?"

"I have school on Monday," Blaine pointed out. "And what's wrong with today? Or tomorrow?"

"I have stuff to do then," Cooper replied. "We'll just call it a family emergency. Some woman who's apparently a huge fan of my work asked for my help. Some teenagers who need to become better at acting and performing for some sort of competition. I figured you could help me out with that, and then we could have lunch somewhere."

Blaine already felt bad for the teens who would have to sit through one of Cooper's master classes. Having sat through lots of them already, Blaine knew by now that, while Cooper meant well, he was definitely not the expert he claimed to be. Whenever he told Cooper this, though, his brother reminded him of his career and how much better than Blaine he was. Besides – whoever these teens were, they were probably big fans of Cooper's as well.

"Why should I be present for that?" he asked. "I've already heard it all, on more than one occasion."

"As I said, you can assist me in showing them how it's done." Cooper grinned at him. "Come on, little brother, we can spend some time together. What do you say?"

"Why is everything always about you?" Blaine muttered under his breath, knowing fully well that whatever he would suggest would be rejected by his brother anyway. "Fine, I'll come."

"Great." Cooper got up again to walk over to Blaine and clap his back. "I'll pick you up here tomorrow evening."

Once Cooper was gone, Blaine sighed, leaning back in his chair. What had he gotten himself into now?

o-o-o-o-o

Blaine and Cooper barely exchanged three words that Sunday evening when they drove from Dalton to their parents' house. Or rather – Blaine didn't say much, and didn't even sing along to the songs on the radio, something he always did. Cooper, on the other hand, chatted happily about the auditions he had coming up and about the success he had and all the women who wanted something from him. At the start of the car drive he'd told Blaine that they should get to know each other better, but Blaine doubted he'd ever get the chance to tell Cooper about himself.

Therefore, Blaine settled for staring blankly out of the window, trying to block Cooper out as well as he could. His friends had all been excited for him, not seeming to understand that Blaine didn't really want to attend a Cooper Anderson master class. His entire life – or at least his life when he'd been younger – had been one big Cooper Anderson master class.

Maybe they'd actually get the chance to talk during lunch this time, though. Blaine heavily doubted it.

o-o-o-o-o

The next day, Cooper (naturally) overslept, and Blaine wondered if his brother would've been prepared any better if he'd had an audition that day. In the end, they made it to the school only a little late. Blaine just tried to keep busy during the drive over by trying to remember why William McKinley High School sounded so familiar.

"We're here for a Glee club," Cooper told him as they walked through the corridors. "But there's someone I need to see first…"

It was then that they ran headfirst into a tall blond woman whom Blaine vaguely recognised as one of the people who'd ran for state senator a few months prior. If he remembered correctly, one of her plans had been to ban all Glee clubs, at least those that weren't privately funded. And she was the person who wanted to help out a Glee club? Blaine felt a little confused. His confusion only grew worse when he suddenly realised that she was also, in fact, the woman who'd coached Aural Intensity last year around Regionals and had punched the governor's wife upon hearing the results.

Now Blaine was even more confused. How had this woman even been allowed to run for state senator after that?

"Wait here for a moment, squirt," Cooper told him suddenly. "I'll see you in a bit in the choir room, alright?"

Before Blaine could point out that he had no idea where the choir room even was, Cooper and the woman had left. Great. Blaine leant against one of the lockers, deciding to wait for classes to change. He'd ask one of the students here for directions.

A while later, the bell rang, and student came practically running out of their classrooms. Blaine observed them all with not too much interest, until someone said, "Sorry, could you move for a moment?" Blaine glanced up, only now noticing that there was a boy standing in front of him. "You're right in front of my locker," the boy continued.

"Oh, right. Sure." Blaine almost stumbled in his haste to step away. "Sorry."

The boy shrugged and opened his locker. "That's okay. You probably didn't know, right?" Blaine shook his head. "Are you new here? I don't think I've seen you around before."

"I don't go here," Blaine replied quietly. "I'm here to help out my brother with something."

The boy nodded. "So where is he?"

"He ditched me." It was out of his mouth before Blaine could stop himself. "I mean, he…" He couldn't come up with anything. Awesome.

The boy smiled sadly. "I'm Kurt," he introduced himself. "Where do you need to go? Or don't you have to go anywhere?"

Blaine took Kurt's outstretched hand. "I'm Blaine," he replied. "He told me to meet him in the choir room… some time. I don't even know when." He frowned.

"The choir room?" Kurt seemed surprised. "That's where I'm headed now as well. I could just show you the way."

Blaine smiled gratefully. "That would be great," he said.

"What exactly is your brother doing here?" Kurt asked as they started walking. "He's not spying or anything, is he?"

Blaine shook his head. "No, he's not. Apparently, someone asked him to help out the Glee club here, and he was happy to do so, for some reason." He shrugged. "A tall, blond woman? I think she ran for office recently."

"Coach Sylvester," Kurt said with a nod. "Yeah, she's helping us out nowadays. No one really knows why." They were silent for a moment, before Kurt asked, "Aren't you still in school as well, though? You don't look much older than anyone here, to be honest."

"He somehow got me permission to skip," Blaine muttered. "He called it a family emergency."

"Okay." Kurt clearly didn't know how to react to that, and Blaine didn't blame him.

They'd reached the choir room now, and as they entered, Blaine instantly noticed that Cooper wasn't here yet, and neither was the blond woman. However, a lot of teenagers already were there, including a short brunette who instantly stood up when she caught sight of him. "Spy!" she cried out, pointing an accusing finger at him.

Blaine's eyes widened, and Kurt looked between them confusedly. "He's not a spy, Rachel," Kurt told her. "Blaine's here to help his brother – "

"He's one of the leads of the Warblers," Rachel interrupted him. "What do you want, Warbler? You're out of the competition already. You're not – "

"Good, very good." Now Rachel herself was interrupted. By none other than Blaine's brother. "Talking loudly, pointing at people – you're going to be a great actress one day!"

Blaine rolled his eyes; that must be the some of the worst advice he'd ever heard Cooper dish out. And he'd heard a lot.

"Oh my gosh." Rachel seemed to be melting on the spot, and when Blaine looked at Kurt, he noticed that the other boy wasn't much better off. "You're Cooper Anderson."

Cooper smiled widely as the other Glee club members also seemed to notice him. They flocked him, much like the Warblers had two days before, and Blaine eventually managed to get out of the huddle. Some time later, when half of the club had already sat down again, Kurt stopped next to him.

"Why didn't you tell me that your brother is Cooper Anderson?" he asked, his eyes still as wide as saucers. "He's – I'm such a big fan of his."

Blaine barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I'm sure he'll be happy to hear it," he said. "I, however, am the wrong person to gush to about Cooper, so you may want to save it for someone else." He didn't know what it was about Cooper's presence that made him so much more easily annoyed than usually. Kurt didn't seem to notice it, though.

"Oh." He blinked at Blaine, not quite appearing to understand. "Alright, then."

By now, all the other teens had sat down, and Kurt hastily joined them. Blaine, on the other hand, sat on the side of the room, wishing that he'd remembered to bring a book or something to tide him over. This was going to be painful, after all.

Just like he'd expected, Cooper didn't even need his assistance. He seemed perfectly fine trying to teach these teenagers all the things he'd found out along the way by himself. No matter how misguided his tips were, the group eagerly wrote down every word he said, laughed at his jokes, and stared at him as if he was some sort of Greek god.

When Cooper suggested playing out a real scene from a real TV show, Blaine wondered why he was doing this. After all, it wasn't as if Cooper had actually got the role. Not that these kids knew, of course.

"Aren't you going to come sit with us, Blaine?" Blaine glanced up; most of the teens were already forming a circle on the floor, while Cooper was still talking animatedly. Blaine was suitably impressed that Kurt had found the strength to step and look away from Cooper for a long enough time to invite Blaine to come over.

"I'm not sure if that's such a good idea," he replied, smiling somewhat apologetically. Kurt glanced between Blaine and Cooper almost indecisively, but was saved from choosing between staying here with Blaine or joining his friends and Cooper (which, Blaine supposed, was never really a difficult choice to make in the first place) when Cooper caught sight of them.

"Blainey!" he called out, and Blaine found himself wishing for the floor to open up underneath him. "Come on, don't be a spoilsport! You need this just as much as these kids do."

Very reluctantly, Blaine stood up and slowly walked over to the group. There, he sank down next to Kurt (seeing as he seemed to be the only person in the room who'd remembered that Blaine was even there himself, and that included Cooper), and waited for Cooper to tell them what to do. Hopefully, it wouldn't be so bad.

o-o-o-o-o

It was worse. Way worse. Blaine stormed down the halls of McKinley High, furious, after he'd walked out of the choir room. He was half glad, however, that Cooper hadn't done this master class with the Warblers. Blaine didn't think he was ready to see if his friends really cared more about a semi-famous commercial actor than about him. At least he didn't know the kids here.

But of course, Cooper had made a complete fool out of himself again by giving out the least useful advice ever, and when Blaine had commented on this, they went back to how it always was. Cooper patronised Blaine, belittled him and made him feel like crap; only this time, Blaine hadn't taken it. He stomped out and was now headed towards the library, hoping that he could find some sort of bus service or some other form of transportation to get back to Dalton.

Once he'd gathered his information, Blaine was off again, walking quickly towards the exit of the school, when all of a sudden, someone grabbed his arm.

"Blaine." It was Kurt. "Are you okay?" He was frowning. "You just… ran out earlier."

Blaine shrugged, trying to wrench his arm out of Kurt's grip. "Why do you care?"

"I just…" Kurt looked baffled. "I just wanted to make sure you're alright. If you're just running out of here, who knows what'll happen to you."

"I'm fine," Blaine replied. "But let me guess, Cooper pretended nothing happened and just continued teaching you all the things you shouldn't do at any kind of audition?" Kurt just stared at him, looking shocked. "See? That's the Cooper Anderson I've had to live with for years. One that doesn't even give a damn about me."

"He's your brother," Kurt said. "And what do you mean, things we shouldn't do at auditions? Obviously they worked for him."

"Yes." Blaine couldn't quite keep the sarcasm out of his voice. "Indeed. So if you want to be the star in some awful commercial for some website, go right ahead and follow his advice." Kurt looked doubtful, so Blaine added, "I don't even know why I'm telling you this. The amount of roles he didn't get because he used his own tips far outweighs the amount of roles he _did_ get."

Kurt just stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Okay," he said simply, and Blaine wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean.

"You think I'm just jealous, don't you?" he asked, and now Kurt looked annoyed.

"I didn't, as a matter of fact," he replied. "Now, however… never mind. Cooper said to tell you, if any of us saw you, that he's waiting for you at the car, by the way. Something about having lunch together?"

Blaine groaned softly. "Great. Fine. Bye, Kurt."

o-o-o-o-o

Lunch with Cooper actually went better than Blaine had expected it to go beforehand. Cooper actually seemed to listen to Blaine for once, though Blaine wondered how long that attitude would last. Knowing Cooper, he'd forgotten all about it the next time he came to Ohio.

His friends were all very eager to hear what Blaine and Cooper had done that day, and once they knew everything, Blaine retreated to his room. When he checked his e-mail, he noticed that he had a notification from Facebook, and not for the first time, Blaine wondered why he'd ever made a Facebook account. He hardly ever did anything with it. Oh, right. Cooper.

But this was a friend request – from one Kurt Hummel. Blaine frowned before clicking the notification. If this was really Kurt, then why –

_Blaine – _

_How was lunch with your brother? I hope you didn't end up killing him; you looked pretty murderous before. But enough about him. I promise I won't mention him unless you do so first and you definitely shouldn't feel obliged to mention him._

_I feel like we got off on the wrong foot and that, if circumstances had been different, we might've become friends. You seem like you could be a good friend. So I'd like to start over, if that's alright with you. Please don't feel like you have to do this; you can just delete this message if you want to. I won't be offended, not that it would really matter if I would._

_Kurt_

For a moment, Blaine had no idea what to do. Eventually, he decided to just give it a try. What did he have to lose? If Kurt did turn out to only want his friendship in order to get closer to Cooper – well, that was nothing Blaine hadn't heard before. Besides, most people who knew about Cooper normally never stopped talking about him. If Kurt showed the same behaviour, Blaine could easily still cut him off.

From what he'd seen earlier, though, Kurt seemed like pretty good friend material as well. It wouldn't hurt to accept his friend request and see where it took him. Perhaps, next time Cooper was in town, Blaine would have a friend who was (almost) completely immune to his brother's charms and smooth talking. He was already looking forward to it.

* * *

**A/N**: Yeah. Maybe that was a bit too fast, but... I could sort of see it happen. Especially because, you know, they're Kurt and Blaine. There must be some magical pull they feel towards each other so they end up together no matter what :P Anyway, let me know what you think, please review! :)


	56. Hold on to sixteen

**A/N**: This may be a bit of a weird chapter (though, weirder than most others? I'm not sure :P) in the sense that really, half of it takes place before the episode it's supposed to be set in. If that makes sense. The opening scene just turned out bigger than expected. And the characters are possibly a bit OOC, I'm not sure (I mean, they were more OOC in the original version of this, but...). Anyway, just to be clear: in this story, Kurt joins the Troubletones, who then meet the Warblers and another group whose name doesn't really matter at Sectionals, as requested by _wild wolf free17_. And in an attempt to explain something referenced in the story: Rachel probably didn't like Kurt leaving ND and didn't pull out of the race for class president.

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review at the bottom!

* * *

"Hey, Kurt."

Kurt glanced up from his locker as he heard his name, and he smiled somewhat hesitantly at Mercedes as she approached. They hadn't talked much lately, which was partly due to Mercedes leaving the New Directions for Shelby's group two weeks prior, so he was a little surprised to see her.

"Hey," he greeted her, closing his locker. "What's wrong?"

Mercedes, who'd looked a little doubtful as she'd approached him, tried to plaster a happier look on her face now. "I'm fine," she promised him. "But what about you?"

"Yeah, me too." Kurt frowned slightly.

"Listen, I was wondering if you would like to hang out after school?" Mercedes suggested. "Like… old times. We could catch up a bit. I miss you."

Kurt nodded in agreement. He missed her too, but it hadn't been him who'd run off with Sam before the summer had even begun, and then, when school started again, with that Shane guy from the football team. He understood that Mercedes wanted to spend time with her boyfriend, but that didn't have to get in the way of their friendship, right? Kurt still spent time with Rachel, and Tina too. They both had boyfriends as well.

"Don't you – " he started, but then asked, "Is Shane busy today, or…?"

"Yeah, he is," Mercedes replied. "Which is not why I'm asking you this, though. I really want to hang out with you again, and… Shane doesn't know anything about fashion. Or divas."

Kurt smiled slightly. He'd figured as much. "Sure, I guess we could hang out. Do you need a ride or do we meet there?"

o-o-o-o-o

From that moment onwards, Mercedes returned in Kurt's life as a force to be reckoned with. Since she was still not too friendly with Rachel, the two girls often tried to commandeer some of Kurt's time before the other got to, and Kurt's suggestions of the three of them all hanging out were quickly shot down. Once, the girls – whose boyfriends were both on the football team and thus, busy on the same days, which didn't help the matter – were so busy waging war that Kurt, in the end, went to the mall with Tina instead, unnoticed by either Mercedes or Rachel.

Kurt had never had girls fight over him before, and he desperately hoped that it wouldn't happen again after this whole ordeal.

One afternoon, Kurt and Mercedes were sitting at the food corner at the mall, chatting about all kinds of things, when the subject of Glee clubs came up. They'd managed to steer clear of the topic most of the time, since it was a somewhat sore spot, but now, Kurt suddenly asked, "How's your group doing, though? I mean, you can't possibly have enough people for Sectionals, right?"

Mercedes pulled a face. "No, we don't. But it's okay, we still have a couple of weeks. Sugar managed to convince some girls she knew to join, and now that she's decided that it shouldn't be a group just for girls, Brittany and Santana are trying to get some foreign exchange student to join as well."

Kurt frowned. "Oh?" He only knew of one foreign exchange student, some boy named Rory, who was Irish. Finn had talked to him a few times, but never mentioned anything about him joining Shelby's group. "Weren't you so proud of being an all-girl group?"

Shrugging, Mercedes said, "Well, what Sugar says, goes, in that respect, since it's her daddy paying for everything. Plus, she'd seen Rory – that's the guy's name – around and decided that she had to win him over in some way." They were quiet for a moment, before Mercedes continued. "Kurt?" Her tone was so hesitant that Kurt couldn't help but feel a little suspicious. "How many solos have you had in Glee club in the past year?"

"I've had a few," Kurt replied, but before he could elaborate, Mercedes shook her head.

"You had two, at the start of last year, and one of those songs you only got to sing because your dad was sick. Kurt, you have an amazing voice and it's awful that you don't even get to sing. And what about the musical? You were the only person who auditioned for Tony, but the directors decided not to give you the role anyway. They gave it to Finn instead, who didn't even audition or want the role initially!"

Kurt shook his head. "The musical has nothing to do with Glee club, Mercedes. And I'm not – I'm not changing sides."

"They don't appreciate you, Kurt," Mercedes continued. "And don't you remember what we did in sophomore year when we didn't get any solos? We became Cheerios. But by now, Mr Schue probably thinks that you either don't care about getting to sing anymore or he just assumes that there's nothing you can do about it anyway."

She had a point there. "Half the club never gets any solos, though," he pointed out. "And… yes, we became Cheerios the last time, but we never had to quit Glee for that."

"Remember how awesome we sounded together, though?" Mercedes ploughed on. "We could actually do that again. Sugar's not an obstacle, and Rory's the new kid in every sense of the word. Santana probably just wants to sing with Brittany. We could easily beat them, and get all the solos and the duets together. We'll blow everyone away with our performance."

The idea sounded tempting, Kurt had to admit. "I just – " he started, before sighing. "I can't just leave."

"Well, think about it," Mercedes said, smiling at him.

o-o-o-o-o

Kurt soon noticed that Finn never mentioned Rory again, which probably had to do with the younger boy's choice to join the other Glee club at school. After a particularly gruesome Glee club meeting, in which Rachel had all but demanded that she be the only female soloist, Quinn and Tina hadn't been able to protest much since Mr Schue seemed to like Rachel's idea, Finn had been appointed by Rachel as her preferred duet partner, and the boys, except Kurt, hadn't felt like complaining about that, Kurt's mind was made up.

When Mercedes led him into the practice room of the other – still nameless – group, all Santana wanted to know was what had taken him so long.

o-o-o-o-o

And now it was time for Sectionals, and Kurt would be singing his very first competition solo. It was pretty nerve-wracking. For some reason, the Troubletones (as they were called now) weren't competing against the New Directions. Instead, they'd be facing the Warblers and a group from some school in Dayton.

They miraculously managed to find enough people to compete, mostly because between Sugar, Santana and Brittany, they knew the entire cheerleading team, and some of those girls actually appeared to be unable to think for themselves, so it was easing getting them on board. Kurt and Rory were still the only guys, but, Kurt figured, that wasn't so bad. If what he'd heard was correct, Tina and Quinn would be the only girls in New Directions when they had their Sectionals next week. Rachel had, after all, tried to stuff the ballot boxes, but she'd been found out. Neither she nor Kurt had been successful at beating Brittany for senior class president.

Since the Sectionals and Regionals competitions would be held at one of the competing schools this year, Kurt now found himself glancing around in awe as he walked, feeling somewhat lost, through the Dalton Academy hallways. He peeked in some of the rooms he passed, a little shocked by the fact that this was actually a school. A school attended by teenage boys – who must be very well-behaved, Kurt supposed. Everything looked so old and expensive; it didn't look much like a school at all.

"Sorry, are you lost?" Kurt turned around swiftly, and was met by the sight of a teenage boy in a blazer standing about fifteen feet away.

"Yeah," Kurt replied, feeling a little silly for getting lost now that he'd been found, "I am." As he approached the boy, he suddenly recognised him. "You're the lead Warbler, aren't you?"

The boy smiled. "That's me. I won't be the only one singing a solo this time, though, don't worry." He glanced at Kurt's outfit. "And you are…"

"Part of the Troubletones." It was still weird, saying that. "McKinley High in Lima?"

The boy nodded thoughtfully. "I thought their club was called New Directions, though? We competed against them twice last year, and I was sure that they were from Lima as well…"

"Yeah, they are," Kurt replied hastily, slightly flushed. "There are just… two Glee clubs at school now. I used to be in New Directions but I'm not anymore. It's a long story."

"And the way to the auditorium isn't nearly long enough for long stories," the boy mused. "Oh – sorry. Where are my manners? Hi, I'm Blaine."

Kurt smiled slightly. "I'm Kurt. Nice to meet you."

"I am interested in hearing that story, though," Blaine told him, "about why you quit one Glee club and joined another. Later, maybe?"

Kurt nodded before he realised he was doing so. "Sure."

"Awesome." Blaine grinned. "At least it won't seem like I'm trying to figure out how to sabotage the competition then."

"Blaine, there you are." Another boy in a Dalton uniform approached them, and Kurt thought he heard Blaine trying to suppress a groan. "We were looking all over for you." Then, the boy caught sight of Kurt. "Who's this?" he asked, barely masking the dislike in his voice.

"This is Kurt," Blaine replied. "Kurt, this is Sebastian. Kurt's in the Troubletones."

"Ah, yes," Sebastian sneered. "That girl group. You must fit in perfectly."

Not giving Kurt the chance to retort, Blaine quickly dragged him away. "Come on," he said. "Don't listen to Sebastian. I have no idea what his problem is."

Soon, they reached the auditorium, and after promising that, yes, they'd talk more later, Kurt went to find his teammates.

o-o-o-o-o

"You're not serious." Kurt glanced up to find Blaine eyeing him a little disapprovingly. They were sitting on a small bench near the school's entrance while the judges deliberated, and Kurt had just told Blaine his story. "You left your Glee club because you didn't get enough solos?"

"I left because I didn't get any solos at all," Kurt corrected him. "Because almost no one got any solos except two members of the club." Blaine's gaze didn't waver, though, so Kurt sighed. "Not that I'd expect you to understand. I bet you get all the solos you want, right? And that has been the case for over a year. Of course you wouldn't understand. Other people want to sing as well, not just the person whoever is in charge thinks is best. It should be about the entire group."

"Oh, I understand." Blaine sounded a little frustrated now. Running a hand through his hair, he sighed. "I understand better it than you think. Look, I'm not asking for all those solos, or telling the guys to give them all to me, okay? We audition for them, and the council decides who sounds best." Alright. That sounded at least a little fairer than how things went in New Directions. "I completely understand what it's like to be ignored in favour of someone who's somehow deemed better than you and there's nothing you can do about it because that's just how it's been decided at some point, for some reason."

Kurt frowned slightly. He had a distinct feeling that this wasn't about show choir anymore. "Do you… want to talk about it?" he asked hesitantly, and Blaine shook his head.

"No, it's alright. I just – the Warblers… they're my friends. They like me, not for who they think I am or should be, like so many people do, but for me. I couldn't imagine leaving them behind just like that."

"Well, we still go to the same school," Kurt said. "And sure, some of them are a little peeved by the fact that several members switched teams, but most of them sort of understand. They personally don't care that much about not getting a lot of solos, but can see that it could annoy others. I think if Santana hadn't practically tricked her, Brittany wouldn't be here right now."

Of course, Blaine probably had no idea who they were, but that was hardly important now. "Alright," Blaine said after about half a minute had gone by without either of them speaking. "Your performance was still pretty good, though."

Kurt smiled slightly. "So was yours."

For the next few minutes, until the announcement came that the judges had come to their decision, the two boys continued talking, mostly about other happenings in the show choir business. When they entered towards the backstage area to meet with their respective teams, Kurt noticed Sebastian glaring at him. Mercedes, on the other hand, was giving him an impressed look.

"He's just… some guy," Kurt told her before she could say anything, and Mercedes snorted.

"Maybe now, he is, but… you never know what could happen."

o-o-o-o-o

When the announcement came that the Warblers and the Troubletones had tied, Kurt couldn't help but glance at Blaine for a moment as his team accepted the trophy. Blaine was being hugged by his teammates, and Kurt smiled for a moment. He wasn't sure what Blaine had been trying to say earlier (or perhaps, he'd been trying not to say anything at all), but it was good to see that the Warblers did, indeed, like him.

Kurt plastered a smile on his own face, which wasn't that hard, really. They'd made it to Regionals, after all. As Mercedes and Brittany came to hug him and Sugar tried to jump on top of the pile, he failed to notice Blaine directing another look at his back before Sebastian tried to get his attention.

However, before he could leave, Kurt was tapped on the back. It was Blaine again. "Congratulations," the other boy said, and Kurt grinned.

"Thanks, you too. So, I'll see you at Regionals, I guess?"

For a moment, it looked like Blaine was going to say something, but it was gone before Kurt could understand what it was. Instead, Blaine just smiled back. "Oh, we'll definitely see each other at Regionals."

* * *

**A/N**: So, what do you think? Let me know, please review! :)


	57. The Sue Sylvester Shuffle III

**A/N**: So, as you've probably all noticed, updates aren't exactly... regular at this point. That mostly because for some reason, I just can't seem to get myself to write, and it's been that way for about a month. I've probably only written about 2,000 words in the past weeks, which is, frankly, pretty sad. I'm not sure if it's a writer's block or something else (strange things happen in my head), but yeah. Updates probably won't be as frequent as they sometimes are, though that might change at any point in the near or far future, I don't know. So, speaking of hardly getting any writing done, this chapter was not prompted. Again. I just figured that it would be easier if I just wrote something I felt like writing at that moment than to get in the mindset of writing something I wasn't feeling as inspired for. So there's that too. But yes, this was inspired by some similar scenes on the actual show I'm fairly sure you'll recognise when you get there. As for the episode it's set in... that's just for a rough time indication. And - should I still warn for a POV switch in the middle of the chapter? Since that does tend to happen every now and then... Anyway, it's there, but it should be obvious enough :)

Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and if you feel like it, please leave a review at the bottom! :)

* * *

Dalton was… different. Very different from McKinley, as a matter of fact. It had taken Kurt weeks to get used to the different atmosphere, to having no girls around, to wearing the same school uniform five days a week, to finally being challenged in class. However, sending him here had cost his father and stepmother most of the money they'd intended to use for their honeymoon, so Kurt was determined to make this work out.

It was probably made easier by the fact that he didn't really miss McKinley, except his friends and Glee club. But he saw his friends during the weekends, and he could sing in the car.

But yes, Dalton was interesting. Kurt hadn't known what exactly to expect from the strict anti-bullying policy, but he hadn't thought that it worked so well and that nobody gave him a hard time at all. People even went out of their way to help him out. Kurt truly experienced a culture shock during the first few weeks.

However, contrary to what people might've expected from him, Kurt didn't really have any friends at Dalton. Sure, he talked to boys in his classes and never sat alone during lunch, but he didn't have the same camaraderie he had with several New Directions members with any of these boys. They'd all known each other for years – or at least since the beginning of this school year – already, after all.

Now, though, was his chance to strike up friendships with the boys. He hadn't boarded before, since it had seemed so expensive, but now, his father had realised that the costs of letting Kurt board at Dalton and drive home only for the weekends were significantly less than driving to and from school every day. It would save him a lot of time as well.

Still, Kurt didn't know a lot of people at Dalton, and the name the dean had given him didn't ring a bell. He'd just have to hope Nick Duval was a nice guy.

As was to be expected, when Kurt and his family arrived at Dalton a few days before school started again after the winter break, hardly any students were there. Among the still absent ones was this Nick Duval, so Kurt hoped that the faculty had informed him that he'd be getting a roommate after the break, or else he'd be in for quite a surprise when he returned.

That weekend, after his family (and Mercedes) had left, Kurt immersed himself in pamphlets of all kinds of clubs at Dalton. Most of them had, predictably, started at the beginning of the school year, and only a few were still accepting members. In the end, Kurt just decided to visit the gym a couple of times a week and do some gymnastics to stay fit.

Just like he'd done when he'd first transferred, he briefly considered asking the Warblers if he could join them. Since they were such an elite group and only appeared to hold auditions at the start of the year, however, Kurt quickly dismissed this option. As said, the Warblers were, if possible, the most popular group at Dalton. Kurt had seen them perform more than once, and he'd been both impressed and slightly disturbed by the order and perfection they seemed to embody.

Plus, there was also the issue that the Warblers had tied with New Directions at Sectionals, and they'd be facing off again at Regionals. Although Kurt had transferred to Dalton before Sectionals, he wouldn't be surprised if they didn't trust him very much. Still, Kurt couldn't quite shake the feeling that he might be a good addition to the team, if only because they didn't have a countertenor now. Oh well. There was always next year, if his father could afford it or if Kurt could get any scholarships or financial aid.

On Sunday, Kurt realised, all the other students returned to the dorms, and it was more of a chaos than Kurt was used to seeing at Dalton. He'd definitely have to get used to that.

When he returned from dinner, the door to his room was wide open, and Kurt came to a halt. He was sure he'd locked the door before leaving, so the fact that it was open now could really only mean two things. Either someone had picked the lock, or his roommate was back.

Slowly moving towards the room, Kurt could make out several voices, none of which rang a bell. As he walked in, there were three boys standing with their backs towards him at the other side of the room. Kurt sank down on his bed and stared at the other three as they muttered. He tried not to listen in, and he didn't want to interrupt them either, so he took his phone from his bag to see if he'd missed any text messages.

"Hey!" Kurt glanced up, figuring that the three boys had finally noticed him, but it was yet another boy, a blond one this time.

"Hey, J– whoa." Now Kurt had four boys staring at him, which would have been rather intimidating if he hadn't already spent about a month at this school before winter break and knew that everyone was much nicer here than at McKinley.

"Hi?" Kurt greeted them, smiling as calmly as he could. "One of you must be Nick, right?"

"Yeah, that's me," one of the boys who'd already been in the room said. "Wow. You're my new roommate, then? I'd completely forgotten about that."

"You mean you hadn't noticed the fact that the bed was made and there's all this stuff here that isn't yours when you came in?" the Asian boy standing behind Nick asked, almost sounding disapproving. Kurt did recognise this boy, he thought. This guy was one of the Warblers.

Nick shrugged, and the other three groaned. "Well, it's nice to meet you," Nick said. "These guys are my friends – Jeff, Wes and David. If you need any help with anything, don't hesitate to ask."

Kurt nodded. "Nice to meet you all. I'm Kurt, by the way. And thank you. I only just started boarding here now, but I transferred around the end of November, so I already know my way around the school, and all that. I'll keep it in mind, though."

"At the end of November?" David asked, sounding a little confused, and Kurt shrugged.

"Things got bad at my old school, and my dad didn't want to wait until after Christmas to get me out of there."

For a moment, the four boys were silent, but then Nick spoke up again. "Okay. If you ever want to talk about it…"

Kurt smiled. "Got it."

"Did you just get back from dinner, Kurt?" Jeff asked. "We were about to go now, so if you haven't eaten yet, you could join us if you want to?"

Kurt might've been at Dalton for over a month by now, but that didn't mean that he wasn't taken aback by the boys' general kindness every now and then. "I just had dinner," he confirmed, "so I guess I'll stay here. Thanks for the offer, though."

"Alright," Nick said as the other boys walked out of the room, waving, "see you later, Kurt."

o-o-o-o-o

Kurt had never had a roommate before, unless you counted the debacle with Finn all those months ago. He had no idea what he was in for, but in the end, it all turned out okay. Kurt rose and went to bed before Nick did, Nick wasn't overly messy, and they managed to figure out a system that would allow both boys' toiletries (of which Kurt, of course, had many more) to be kept in the bathroom.

Now that Kurt stayed at Dalton after classes, he had more time to hang out with other students. Although he'd known about the no harassment policy since before he'd come to Dalton, it was still shocking to him that the other boys didn't refuse to talk or be seen with him after finding out he was gay. Not even Nick had any issues with the matter, fortunately.

In fact, Nick even offered to set him up on a blind date with one of his friends. Kurt, figuring that that would be too much all at once, politely declined. He might've been starved for love last school year, but he liked to think he'd matured since then.

Near the end of January, Kurt stayed at Dalton during the weekend for the first time. He had to finish several projects, and he also hoped that the gym wouldn't be as crowded as it sometimes was during the week. As it turned out, Kurt didn't see anyone around, much to his relief. That didn't mean, however, that there was nobody there.

o-o-o-o-o

Blaine Anderson loved Dalton; his friends, the safe environment, everything else… Out of all the schools his parents could've sent him to, this was by far the best one. He could even stay at school during the weekends when his parents were away (and even when they were home sometimes). Blaine also knew exactly when he would be able to go to the gym with as little people around as possible.

Today was a little different, though. The moment he stepped into the locker room, he realised that there was, in fact, someone there. There was a shower running, but, as Blaine didn't hear anyone else, he figured that it was quiet enough. Then someone – the person taking a shower, most likely – started singing, and Blaine instantly stopped what he was doing.

That _voice_. He didn't know anyone at Dalton who could sing like this, which was saying something. Whoever was in the shower had one of the highest voices Blaine had ever heard in a boy, and before he knew what was happening, he'd taken a couple of steps towards the showers to find out who it was and try to get the person this clear voice belonged to to join the Warblers.

Wait. That would be insanely creepy. Blaine had no doubt that, if he snuck up to the boy while said boy was taking a shower, that wouldn't do his mission much good. Besides, he thought, frowning to himself, even though Dalton was safe and he was protected here, that might not stop other boys from _thinking_ that he was trying to get a good look at them in the locker rooms.

So Blaine shuffled back to his locker, stuffed his bag in (even though he was the only one around, it was routine now), and started waiting for the boy to turn off the shower and get dressed.

Wait. Did that boy actually hit the high note in _Defying Gravity_?

Wes would love him forever for finding this boy, Blaine was sure of that.

Soon after the boy finished the song, the shower was turned off. Even though he hadn't actually gone up to the boy while he was showering, Blaine still felt like a creep. Here he was, sitting in the locker room, waiting for that boy to finish his shower so they could talk.

Then again, he was here to box. To get to the room where he needed to be, Blaine had to pass the showers. He silently moved towards the door, only seconds before the boy did the same thing. Blaine frowned slightly. He looked somehow familiar, but –

"Hey." The boy had noticed him now, and was blinking confusedly. "You're…"

"Blaine Anderson," Blaine introduced himself, holding out his hand.

The other boy took it slowly. "Kurt Hummel. I was actually going to say the lead singer of the Warblers, but your name's fine too."

"Oh." Blaine was somewhat surprised. "Yes, that's me. So you know about the Warblers?"

Kurt eyed him like he'd gone mad. "Of course I know the Warblers."

"Right," Blaine said. "Because you never auditioned."

"I've only been here for two months," Kurt responded, and suddenly, Blaine knew where he'd seen him before (besides a number of classes, he was sure), "and auditions are only held at the start of the school year, so…"

"You're Nick's roommate," Blaine blurted out. "Has Nick never – " He shook his head. "I'm sure the council is willing to make an exception for a voice like yours."

"Oh." Kurt flushed. "You heard that just now?"

"Yes, I did," Blaine replied. "That was – that was breathtaking, Kurt. You have an amazing voice." He shook his head again. "I can't believe Nick never said anything…"

Kurt smiled slightly. "I don't normally sing in the shower. Not here at Dalton, at least, so… it's not Nick's fault." A second later, he added, "Nick never said anything about Warblers rehearsal. I mean, not that it's any of my business, but I didn't even know… never mind."

Blaine grinned. "That's okay. So are you going to audition willingly or do I have to tell Wes all about your voice and have him forcibly drag you in?"

Kurt looked momentarily horrified. "He'd really do that?"

"I wouldn't put it past him," Blaine replied. "Let it never be said that the Warblers won't go to great lengths to win a competition."

Kurt grimaced, and Blaine wondered what that was about. He decided not to question it, though. Perhaps Kurt would tell him someday. "I'll think about it," Kurt promised. "When are your rehearsals, exactly?"

"Monday after classes," Blaine replied. "And on other days, of course, but that's the closest one. I could meet you by your dorm or in the cafeteria, or somewhere, if you want to?"

"That would be great," Kurt responded. "I'll be there. Should I… have something prepared?"

"I suppose you should," Blaine told him. "Then again, if you sing that song the way you just sang it, you'd definitely be in. Oh," he added, suddenly thinking of something, "don't tell Nick yet, alright? I want to see his face when he realises his roommate is such a talented singer."

"Alright." Kurt smiled nervously, reddening slightly. "I can do that." He glanced around. "I'll just… go now, and leave you to your… whatever you were going to do."

"Boxing," Blaine filled in, and Kurt quirked one eyebrow.

"Boxing?" he repeated. "Fair enough. I'll see you around, Blaine."

Blaine nodded as Kurt opened the locker room door. "Bye, Kurt." As he stalked over to where the boxing equipment was, Blaine couldn't help but think that Kurt was going to be the best addition to the Warblers in ages. Blaine was glad he'd been around to hear Kurt sing now. At least with Kurt, they had a chance to win at Regionals. Besides, the boy seemed nice enough, and his voice sent shivers down Blaine's spine. This must be the start of a beautiful friendship; Blaine could feel it.

* * *

**A/N**: Oh yes. A beautiful friendship indeed, Blaine ;) Anyway, let me know what you thought of this chapter, please review!


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